


Merlin's Beard: Pit of Vipers | Sirius Black

by Swiggotyy_Swootyy



Series: Merlin's Beard [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Anyways, Astronomy, Blackmail, Charms, Death, Death Eaters, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Detention, F/M, Female Marauders (Harry Potter), First War with Voldemort, Good Death Eaters, Herbology Class (Harry Potter), House Elves, James Potter Being an Asshole, James Potter as Prongs, James Potter is a Good Friend, Kennilworthy Switch - Freeform, Lies, Marauders, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Marauders Friendship (Harry Potter), Ministry of Magic (Harry Potter), Nice Peter Pettigrew, Peter Pettigrew as Wormtail, Potions Class (Harry Potter), Pranks and Practical Jokes, Protective Remus Lupin, Protective Sirius Black, Pureblood Culture (Harry Potter), Pureblood Politics (Harry Potter), Purebloods (Harry Potter), Quidditch, Remus Lupin as Moony, Sirius Black & James Potter Friendship, Sirius Black as Padfoot, Threats, Torture, Transfiguration (Harry Potter), Young Sirius Black, all 7 years, im not sorry, more like death YEETERS ammaright
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2020-12-10
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:00:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 20
Words: 50,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23755006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Swiggotyy_Swootyy/pseuds/Swiggotyy_Swootyy
Summary: Kennilworthy Switch's life is flipped on its head on her 11th birthday. She's forced into a lie that, if exposed, could kill multiple people. She has to go through her days at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry with great caution. To make matters worse, He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named wants something at Hogwarts and Kenni is the only one who can get it. Will she be able to keep her secret? Can she manage to get out of the Dark Lord's plans without consequence? Will she be able to protect those around her AND save herself? Or will Kenni's world come further crashing down around her?
Relationships: Sirius Black/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Merlin's Beard [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1683091
Kudos: 10
Collections: Marauders Era, Starring Sirius Black, marauders





	1. CAST

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome!!!  
> Feel free to comment and leave kudos!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The cast list!

**Naomi Scott** as Kennilworthy "Kenni" Switch-Rowle  
  


**Nargis Rakhri** as Camila "Aunt 'Ammie" Pyper  


**Derek Hough** as Steven Pyper  


**Dev Patel** as Chevalier Rowle  


**Blake Lively** as Eliana Pyper  
  


**Holland Roden** as Lily Evans  
  


**Lily Collins** as Marlene McKinnon  
  


**Felicity Jones** as Alice Fortescue  
  


**Andrew Garfield** as Remus Lupin  
  


**Ben Barnes** as Sirius Black  
  


**Aaron Taylor-Johnson** as James Potter  
  


**Jamie Bell** as Peter Pettigrew  
  


**Thomas Brodie-Sangster** as Domanic "Domi" Flockhart  
  


**Harry Lloyd** as Lucius Malfoy  


**Sarah Gadon** as Narcissa Black Malfoy  


**Helena Bonham Carter** as Bellatrix Black Lestrange  



	2. PLAYLIST

_Disclaimer: the order of the songs in no way coincides with the order of the plot_

** _THE SONG THAT INSPIRED THE STORY:_ **

**_Pit of Vipers_ | **Simon Curtis **  
**

_I can almost feel the tick like clockwork  
_ _Hearing all the voices in my head each time I go  
_ _There's a game they play that I'm not part of  
_ _Tearing at the weaknesses and all the faults they know  
_ _It's impossible to navigate around  
_ _It's inevitable that you'll fall in  
_ _It's improbable i'll ever come back down  
_ _I fell in and now I think I might drown  
_ _I'm falling deep into a pit of vipers  
_ _Over me, over me and I can't break free  
_ _Secrets run deep when you're in a pit of vipers  
_ _Slithering, whispering, feel the venom poisoning me  
_ _Now I must admit that I have played a part  
_ _In the way that things have gotten out of hand  
_ _But it's escalated almost to an art  
_ _I want to fix it but I don't think I can_

**_ THE PLAYLIST:  _ **

**Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap |** AC/DC

"Come right in,  
forget about him,   
we'll have ourselves a ball.   
Dirty deeds done dirt cheap "

**Little Do You Know |** Alex & Sierra

"Little do you know,  
I'm tryna pick my self up piece by piece"

**Just the way I'm not |** All Time Low

"I'm a waste of chances,   
full of bad romances.   
Your favorite enemy and your most hated friend."

**Reckless and the Brave |** All Time Low

"Long live the reckless and the brave,  
I don't think I wanna be saved.   
My song has not been sung"

**A Love Like War (fear.. Vic Feuntes) |** All Time Low

"No escape from the truth and the weight of it all,   
I am caught in the web of a lie"

**Somewhere in Neverland |** All Time Low

"I wanna be your lost boy,   
your last chance,   
your everything better chance.   
Somewhere in Neverland"

**Kids in the Dark |** All Time Low

"They left us alone, the kids in the dark,  
to burn out for ever or light up a spark.   
We come together, state of the art.   
We'll never surrender the kids in the dark."

**Runaways |** All Time Low

"With me you got nothing to fear.   
So let's run away.   
They'll have to find another heart to break."

**Dark Side of Your Room |** All Time Low

"With friends like you, who needs friends?   
I shut my mouth and we do it all again.  
I'm on the dark side of your room,   
with the notches on your bedpost."

**Ground Control |** All Time Low

"Hey, I promise you we'll be fine.   
The universe is on our side."

**Halo |** Beyoncé

"Remember those walls I built?   
Baby, they're tumbling down.   
And they didn't even put up a fight.   
They didn't even make a sound."

**River |** Bishop Briggs

"Shut your mouth,   
baby, stand and deliver.  
Holy hands would make me a sinner."

**CHAMPION |** Bishop Briggs

"You gotta get bruised before you get mad,   
you gotta fall down before you fight back,   
was feelin so weak but baby I'm strong.  
Little did I know I'm a champion."

**White Flag |** Bishop Briggs

"Smoke fire,   
flares are goin up,   
don't you know I ain't afraid to shed a little blood?"

**Dance With the Devil |** Breaking Benjamin

"Easy to find what's wrong,   
harder to find what's right."

**Angel With A Shotgun |** The Cab

"They day before you start a war,   
you better know what you're fighting for.   
Well, baby you're all that I adore.   
I'd love is what you need, a soldier I will be."

**Fix You |** Coldplay

"Lights will guide you home   
and ignite your bones.  
I will try to fix you."

**Hotel California |** Eagles

"You can check out anytime you'd like,   
but you can never leave."

**The Kids Aren't Alright |** Fall Out Boy

"And in the end,   
I'll do it all again.   
I think you're my best friend.  
Don't you know that the kids aren't all,  
kids aren't all right."

**Twin Skeleton's (Hotel In NYC) |** Fall Out Boy

"I don't want to remeber it all,   
the promises you made if you just hold on."

**This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race |** Fall Out Boy

"This ain't a scene,   
this a goddamn arms race."

**Just One Yesterday (feat. Foxes) |** Fall Out Boy

"I don't have the right name or the right looks,  
but I have twice the heart"

**Castles |** Freya Ridings

"I'm gonna be more than you ever thought I was"

**Sarcasm |** Get Scared

"Don't mind us, we're just spilling our guts.   
If this is love I don't wanna be loved."

**Bulletproof |** Godsmack

"Contemplating, isolating, and it's stressing me out.  
Different visions, contradictions, why won't you let me out?   
I need a way to separate it."

**Control |** Halsey

"They send me away to find them a fortune,  
a chess filled with diamonds and gold."

**Nightmare |** Halsey

"I keep a record of the reckage in my life.   
I gotta recognize the weapon in my mind."

**Dead Bite |** Hollywood Undead

"See the dead on the cover of a magazine.   
I see my smile it was born from infedimines.   
Better duck, because this is war on my enemies."

**Kill Everyone |** Hollywood Undead

"Oh here comes the riot,   
why does everything have to resort to violence?"

**Medicine |** Hollywood Undead

"I need to crawl out.   
Out of this hole now   
before the darkness grabs ahold  
and takes my soul now."

**DOA |** I Prevail

"Don't give just take every take,  
don't give just take although it's killing me"

**Bad Liar |** Imagine Dragons

"Look me in the eyes and tell me what you see,   
perfect paradise tearing at the seams.   
I wish I could escape.  
I don't wanna fib.   
I wish I could erase and   
make your heart believe,   
but I'm a bad liar."

**Dark Side |** Kelly Clarkson

"Everybody's got a dark side.   
Can you love me?   
Can you love mine?"

**Shatter Me (feat. Lzzzy Hale) |** Lindsey Stirling

"Somebody shine a light,   
I'm frozen by the fear in me.   
Somebody make me feel alive and shatter me."

**Famous Last Words |** My Chemical Romance

"I am not afraid to keep on living.   
I am not afraid to walk this road alone.   
Honey, if you stay I'll be forgiven.  
Nothing you can say can stop me going home."

**Skeletons |** New Years Day

"I wanna go deeper into what you deny.   
I wanna keep fallin' till there's no lie.   
I don't fear the dark.   
Show me all your scars.   
I wanna know who you are."

**You're Gonna Go Far Kid |** The Offspring

"And I steal away, taking out today.   
Nice work you did.   
You're gonna go far kid.   
With her thousand lies, and her gillotine skies,   
hit 'em right between the eyes."

**Impossible Year |** Panic! At the Disco

"There's no sunshine,   
this impossible year.   
Only black days   
and sky grey   
and clouds full of fear   
and storms full of sorrow   
that won't disappear."

**House of Memories |** Panic! At the Disco

"Baby, we built this house on memories.   
Take my picture now, shake it till you see it."

**Far Too Young To Die |** Panic! At the Disco

"Well I never really thought you'd come tonight,   
while the crown hangs heavy on either side.   
Give me one last kiss while we're far too young to die."

**Under Pressure |** Queen & David Bowie

"Pressure!   
Pushing down me!   
Pressing down on you!   
No man is full."

**Bohemian Rhapsody |** Queen

"Mama, life had just begun.   
But now I've gone and thrown it all away."

**Killer Queen |** Queen

"Caviar and cigarettes,   
well versed in ediquitte,   
extraordinarily nice.   
She's a killer Queen."

**Nightmare |** Set it Off

"My breathing gets faster   
and so does my heart beat.   
I wish this was over,   
I wish that this was a dream"

**Partners in Crime (feat. Ash Costello) |** Set It Off

"This is the tale of reckless love,   
living a life of crime on the run."

**Wolf in Sheep's Clothing (feat. William Beckett) |** Set it Off

"Beware, beware, be skeptical of their smiles,   
their smiles of plated gold.   
Deceit so natural,   
but a wolf in sheep's clothing is more than a warning."

**MONSTERS |** Shinedown

"Good for you, you fooled everybody.   
Good for you, you fooled everyone."

**Carnivore |** STARSET

"Take all, everything I am.  
Bring it to an end.   
Carnivore, carnivore,   
could you come and change me?   
Take all, everything I am.  
Everything I am."

**I Did Something Bad |** Taylor Swift

"I don't regret it one bit because he had it comin.   
They say I did something bad.   
But why's it feel so good?   
They said I did something bad, then why's it feel so good?   
Most fun I ever had,   
and I'd do it over and over again if I could."

**The Next Right Thing |** Kristin Bell

"You are lost,   
hope is gone.   
But you must   
go on.   
And do the next right thing."

**Everybody Wants To Rule The World |** Lorde

"Acting on your best behavior,   
turn your back on Mother Nature,   
everybody wants to rule the world."

**Disturbia** | Rihanna

"Ain't gonna play nice,   
watch out, you might just go under.   
Better think twice,   
your train of thought might be altered.   
So if you falter, be wise."

**Decode |** Paramore

"The truth is hiding in your eyes,   
and it's just hanging on your tongue,   
just boiling in my blood,   
but you think I can't see."

**Ghost of You |** 5 Seconds of Summer

"So I drown it out,   
like I always do.   
Dancing through this house   
with the ghost of you.   
And I chase it down   
with a shot of truth,   
that my feet don't dance   
like they did with you."

**If Walls Could Talk |** 5 Seconds of Summer

"Somethings are meant to be secret,   
and not to be heard.   
So if I tell you, just keep it   
and don't say a word."

**Getaway Green |** All Time Low

"We were getaway green,   
in a world of black and white."

**Favorite Place (feat. The Band CAMINO) |** All Time Low

"So can we close the space between us now?   
It's the distance we don't need.   
You're everything I love about   
the things I hate in me."

**Don't Stop |** 5 Seconds of Summer

"Don't stop   
doin what you're doing.   
Every time you move to the beat   
it gets harder for me   
and you know it, know it, know it."

**Guts |** All Time Low

"Is this what it feels like?   
Finding out   
I've got the guts to say anything!   
Feels like   
breaking out   
when I can give up my reputation."

**Oh, Calamity! |** All Time Low

"When I was younger, I was certain   
I'd be fine without a Queen.   
Just a king inside his castle   
with an ocean in between.   
Now all I do is sit   
and count the miles from you to me.   
Oh, Calamity!"

**Teeth |** 5 Seconds of Summer

"Push me away, push me away,   
then beg me to stay, beg me to stay."

((A/N: I will post the link to the spotify playlist in my bio soon.))

EDIT: here's the playlist ahaha

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5A4TSwQDM6cgZ76VBfD9GK?si=RePb9fxJRxieyZrqS55ieQ 


	3. PROLOGUE

The air was thick with the smell of death on the night of September 26th, 1960. Five hooded figures stood around the newly dead body of Laurel Switch. Four turned to leave after the task was complete. They walked to the front where one took out a wand, pointed it towards the sky. He mumbled something under his breath and, with a flash, a skull with a snake coming out of its mouth appeared in the sky.

Noticing they were not all accounted for the smallest of the four retreating figures stopped and turned to face the house. The hooded woman peered through the front door, at the man that remained inside staring at the body.

“Rowle?” Her gentle voice asked in the direction of the house.

Rowle, the figure standing over the fallen woman’s body, realized that he was staring. Brought from his daze, he held up a finger and tilted his head up.

His simple action caused the entire company of figures to stop and listen.

“I fear we are not alone,” Rowle stated.

“But--”

“You go on and tell the Dark Lord that the deed is done. I will ensure that anything alive does not remain so.”

With that, Rowle stepped over the body and proceeded towards the stairs.

He took his wand from his pocket and pointed it forward.

“Lumos,” he muttered, causing the tip of his wand to illuminate, permitting him to see in the dark hallway.

Rowle heard four, loud pops betide from in front of the house, alerting him to the fact that his companions had left.

Stopping his search, he spun on his heel and made his way back downstairs. He approached the body of the woman and turned his head away. His chest filling with guilt, regret, and pain as her form was still visible in his peripheral. Moving into the kitchen, he threw open the doors of the pantry, grabbed a can and tilted it towards himself. As he did so, the wall melted into the floor, dripping like wax, revealing a sleeping child.

Rowle’s breath caught in his throat. He pocketed his wand and he reached forward taking the child in his arms with care as not to wake it. As he picked up the sleeping babe, revealing a letter on the floor where the child was resting.

Seeing it addressed to one “Chevalier Rowle”, he carefully adjusted the child in his arms and picked up the letter.

Gently he flipped the envelope over and broke the seal. Grabbing the piece of paper that laid within it, he dropped the envelope and unfolded the letter.

“My dearest Chev,” it began, “If you’re reading this, it means that you caught up with me. I know you’re probably furious with me for not heeding your warning and running, but I’ll tell you why I didn’t. I can’t live on the run with Kenni. That’s no life for a little girl. It’d be near impossible for me to raise her on my own and on the run. I would choose death over that. Anyways, she’ll be better and safer in the situation we both discussed. She’ll be away from the fear and raised in a good, loving home. Take her there. Tell them what has happened. You will see her one day and be reunited. Lastly, I hope you know how much I love you. I will always be with you both. I have made my decision and now it is time for you to carry on. Forever yours, Laurel.”

Chevalier shuddered and his hand shook as he pocketed the letter. His gaze flicked toward the sleeping infant he cradled in his arms and regarded her gentle face. He observed how, even as a tot, the child looked quite like her mother. As he studied his daughter’s face, grief came like a thick fog about to consume a traveler and impair his vision. Before the impending pain absorbed him, Rowle exhaled and looked up. He threw up a wall of determination that would hold his hurt at bay for a short time.

Rowle, with his free hand, pulled his hood back on his head. With a snap, he was gone from the house, leaving the mother of his child’s body behind.

Rowle reappeared in an alleyway in East Sussex with a distinct pop. The night was still as he looked to his left and right, checking that there was not another soul in the premise. With cautious steps, he crept down down the alley. Approaching the end, his eyes shifted to the left and right before he proceeded. His sneaking brought him to 28 Mill Road, Rye, East Sussex, England. He knocked on the door hard, surveying behind him.

When the door remained closed, he brought his fist to pound on the wood.

The exasperated call of a woman came from inside, “I’m coming, I’m coming!” The door opened, revealing a rather petite woman in a bathrobe, rubbing her eyes. “The baby just fell asleep, what do you--”

She cut herself off as her hand dropped from her face, seeing the man before her. Her brown eyes were suddenly wide and alert.

“Chev--” She began, but the man she was addressing cut her off.

“Camila, it happened,” Rowle said, his head whipping behind him in a paranoid fashion. “There isn’t much time. Here.”

Rowle handed the baby to a rather flabbergasted Camila.

“You--”

“Cammie, who is it?” A man rounded the corner. His blonde hair sticking up at odd angles, informing Rowle that he had before been asleep. The man’s blue eyes held exhaustion in them until he saw Chevalier.

“Chev? What’s going--”

The dark man on their doorstep ignored him and continued to address Camila. “I’m sorry to spring this on you like this. But, we’re out of time. This is the safest place for her, now.”

The light-haired man put his hand on Camila’s shoulder. “Wait, you mean--”

“Laurel’s gone, Steven” Chevalier stated, simply.

Steven, overwhelmed with the new information, exhaled sharply. He leaned against the door frame in shock and ran his hand through his tousled hair.

Camila’s gaze lowered to the ground and her forehead creased at the news of her best friend’s passing. She looked up towards the man and opened her mouth to say something, but found herself incapable of formulating words. Her eyes flicked to the baby now in her arms and her eyes filled with tears.

Rowle’s wall of determination started to crack as he beheld his sleeping daughter in her godmother’s arms. No matter how hard he tried to remain strong, the grief came seeping in like a fog. The pain caused his eyes to betray him and fill with tears. His voice shook as he broke the tense silence.

“She cannot be with me, it’s not safe. She--”

“We will look after her.” Camila declared, returning her stare to Rowle.

“It won’t be forever. Only until she gets her letter. That is when she’ll be most safe with me.” His voice cracked as he spoke hurriedly in an attempt to finish this moment before the wall of determination burst.

“She’ll be safe until you come back.” Steven contributed, standing upright, his hand returning to his wife’s shoulder.

Chevalier nodded at both of them, unable to form words. He looked towards his daughter one last time. The first tear fell onto his cheek as he gently laid a hand on her soft head. The second tear was loosed when he leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead.

“Goodbye, my dear Kennilworthy. And I’m sorry.” He whispered against her forehead. He kissed her once more, then spun on his heel and disappeared into the night. Chevalier Rowle left Steven, Camila, and his daughter behind him, praying that Merlin will protect her.


	4. ONE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Kenni's life is truly flipped on its head.

Kenni Switch woke up on the morning of July 3rd, 1971 the same way she had woken up for every July 3rd for the past 11 years. She woke up with a smile on her face. It was impossible for one to not wake with a smile when it was one’s 11th birthday. Kenni found herself positively beaming. 

She sat hugged her lamb stuffed animal to her chest and sighed happily, gazing out her window. The sky was blue, the birds chirped joyfully, and the sunbeams danced on her floor. Suddenly, there was a loud slam as her bathroom door was thrown open by one Eliana Pyper who promptly ran into Kenni’s room.

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KEN!” Eliana shouted as she tackled Kenni in a large hug. 

Kenni giggled and wrapped her arms around the giggling girl. 

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY, EL!” Kenni shouted in return. 

You see, both of them had been born on the same day. It was unplanned by their parents to become pregnant at the same time. What came as MORE of a surprise was when both girls were born on the same day. All in all, it made things easier in terms of parties and gifts. It also helped that both girls adored each other and neither had the slightest objection to sharing a special day.

Ever since Kenni came to live with the Pyper’s (the former being almost two months old at the time, thus having no recollection of the night) she and Eliana were inseparable. Even as babies both objected to being far from one another. When they were babies, they would both cry when put in separate rooms. As toddlers, when put to sleep in separate cribs, would be found dozing peacefully in the same one the following morning. As they grew, they had shared the same room. 

When the family had moved due to Seven’s job, they found all rooms too small for two people to inhabit and were devastated. That was until they discovered that they shared a bathroom and it put them at ease. The first week, both girls sat on their bathroom floor and talked until the wee hours of the morning. They would have such a time that Camila would have to come in and tell them to go to bed. Both girls still, quite often, spent the night in their bathroom and talked. But that was when one needed cheering up or if the other was suffering from another night of insomnia. Or, in last night’s case, when it was the night of their birthday. 

The night before, they had stayed in their bathroom until midnight, anticipating their birthday with great excitement. They probably would have stayed awake in there all night if Camila hadn’t come in and told them to both get into their beds, threatening to lock their bathroom doors.

Eliana pulled away from the hug and looked at Kenni, still smiling. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes. When she opened them again, her blue eyes seemed to sparkle with a certain sort of happiness only innocent children can have. 

“I smell pancakes.”

Kenni inhaled and concurred with Eliana’s theory. “I do, too!” 

Both girls jumped off the bed and ran downstairs, giggling and pushing each other, in an unspoken race to reach the bottom. 

They ran into the kitchen and nearly knocked over Steven Pyper who had just entered the house after retrieving the mail. 

“Woah, you two! Slow down!” He spun, avoiding being trampled by the blur of brown hair. He couldn’t help but smile, though, at the girl’s antics. 

“Sorry!” Both girls said at the same time, causing them to giggle once more. 

In the kitchen, Camila Pyper was at the stove, flipping pancakes in a pan with one hand and turning off a timer with her other. After hearing the commotion the girls made, she put down her spatula and turned to face them. 

“Happy Birthday, girlies!” Camila grinned and opened her arms for a hug. 

Both girls ran forward and barreled into her, nearly knocking the woman over. Camila let out an “oof” and stumbled back a few steps, then joined the girls in their giggling.

“Oi! No group hugs without me!” Steven said, following the girls into the kitchen. He dropped the mail on the counter and ran over to them, wrapping his arms around all three of the girls. The large man then picked up all three of them, causing them to let out a shriek, giving them a tight squeeze before placing them back on the floor. 

Keeping his arms around them, he looked down at the girls, feigning cluelessness. “As I was coming in, I thought I heard something about a birthday? Did I mishear that?” 

Both girls giggled. 

“No, it’s our birthday, daddy!” Eliana beamed. 

“It’s Tom’s birthday?” He questioned, eyes glittering with mischief. 

“No!!” Both girls shouted in harmony, laughing even harder when the basset hound in question came bounding in at the sound of his name, tripping over his ears and slipping on the kitchen floor.

Kenni chipped in, “It’s our birthday, Uncle ‘Eve!” 

(The nickname “Uncle ‘Eve” was given to Steven when Kenni was a baby and unable to properly pronounce the words “Uncle Steven”. A similar name was given to Camila when 1-year-old Kenni was asked to say “Aunt Cammie”, causing Camila to be dubbed as “Aunt ‘Ammie” forevermore. Both names were pronounced as if they were single words. “Uncle Eve” sounded more like “Un-cleve”, and “Aunt ‘Ammie” came out more as “Aunta-me”. Both adults bore the names with proud affection and love.) 

Steven’s eyes widened, “It’s Flower’s birthday? I didn’t know we celebrated Flower’s birthday!” 

At the mention of his name, the large, fat cat came hobbling into the room. (The cat was named after the character from the Disney movie Bambi since it shared a rather uncanny resemblance to the skunk.) 

“Noooo!!” Kenni and Eliana shouted, cackling with laughter. 

“No!? Well, who’s birthday is it?!” Steven let go of the girls and threw his hands in the air with mock exaggeration. 

“Ours!” Eliana shouted as Kenni yelled, “It’s our birthday!” 

“Ohhhhh! It’s your birthday!” Steven exclaimed. 

“Yeeeeessss!!” 

Steven chuckled at the girl’s reactions, “Well, in that case, the gifts I saw in the living room were for you.” 

Kenni and Eliana made eye contact and gasped, before racing off to the living room. 

Camila and Steven shared a kiss in the kitchen before Camila turned off the stove and they followed the girls. 

There were a few wrapped presents in the room that both girls quickly tore into and fawned over. They immediately started playing with them, making each other laugh with one another’s silliness. 

A knocking echoed throughout the house over the din.

Camila smiled at the girls and turned to answer the door, “I’ll get it!” 

She put her long brown hair up into a ponytail while walking down the hall towards the door. Once she reached the end, she opened the door, revealing no one. Her brow furrowed and stepped out, looking around for the source of the knocking only to find no one. 

“Huh,” She said, puzzled. She closed the door and started to walk back to the living room when she heard knocking again, except the source of the noise was not from the front door. She followed the knocking into the kitchen where she let out a scream. 

Steven raced into the kitchen, following his wife’s scream, ready to fight. The two girls looked at one another, dropped their toys, and followed their uncle. 

When the entire family reached the kitchen, they discovered Camila looking towards the window where an owl stood with two letters tied to its leg. It knocked in the window with its beak, curiously donning an annoyed expression. 

Steven looked at Camila and back to the window. He cautiously walked forward and opened the window. The owl hopped inside, causing Camila to shriek once more. The owl stretched out its leg to Steven. Steven looked from the owl to the letters tied to its leg and hesitantly reached out and untied them. 

He looked at the letters, and his eyebrows shot up as he read the address. One stated, “Miss E. Pyper, Upstairs Back Shared Room, 17 Rosebud Street, Winchester, Hampshire.” 

The other caused Steven’s heart to nearly stop entirely. It read, “Miss K. Switch, Upstairs Front Shared Room, 17 Rosebud Street, Winchester, Hampshire.” 

He looked wide-eyed to Camila as she approached him. She shared in his concerned expression as she read the addresses of the letters. Taking one in her hands, she flipped it over and saw the most curious crest with the word “Hogwarts” written beneath it. 

Upon reading that, she dropped the letter from her hands and looked at Kenni with a gasp. 

“What is it, Aunt ‘Ammie?” Kenni asked, questioningly, becoming increasingly concerned by her godmother’s paling complexion.

“Are those for us?” Eliana spoke up, either ignoring or not receptive to the tense and anxious mannerisms of her parents. She pranced towards her parents, standing on her tippy toes to read the letter her father was holding. Seeing that it was addressed to her, she took it quickly and tore into it before Steven could get a word out. 

“Dear, Miss Pyper,” she read aloud, “We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry! Witchcraft and Wizardry? Kenni, you have one, too!! Does this mean we’re magic!? This is incredible!” Eliana rambled on, excited with the new news. However, Steven and Camila just remained still, looking at each other. Kenni noticed their unenthusiasm and didn’t participate in her best friend’s excited jumping. 

She wasn’t quite sure what question to ask, but she sure wanted to find out why they had such a negative reaction. 

“Kenni?” Eliana stopped, noticing her friend wasn’t sharing in this obviously joyous moment. “What’s wrong?” 

Kenni said nothing but looked to her godmother and godfather.

Camila finally, after sharing a silent conversation with Steven, returned Kenni’s gaze. 

“Kenni… I… I think we need to talk.” 

~*~*~

Chevalier Rowle paced back and forth in his house, stroking his short beard in thought. The anxiety and nerves of what the day could possibly hold eating away at him. He ran over the story in his head over and over. He had to get it perfect or Merlin knows what would happen. 

He’d say she was a cousin of the late Mrs. He’d say she was orphaned young and raised by muggles. Both of which were more or less true. Except for the fact that the late Mrs. Rowle was not the mother of this child and that she was not a cousin. He had to formulate a convincing argument otherwise more innocents could die. He could not let anyone know that the girl he was going to take in was the product of his affair with a muggle. If they were to know that… he shuddered to think of the outcome. 

11 years. It had been 11 years since he had seen his daughter, which was another source of his anxiety. Would she look like him? Would she go along with the lie? Would she like him? 

Of course, he was certain that the girl was magic. Coming from his lineage and not to mention the lineage of her muggle mother she was guaranteed magic. He did not doubt that these plans were to take place.

His pacing commenced and he muttered nervously under his breath as a small, meek house elf approached him.

“Master, sir?”

Pulled from his thoughts, he turned to face the creature that stood next to the stairs, looking at the ground. Confidence was never Nibley’s strong suit. 

“Yes, Nibley,” The man sighed “What do you need?” 

Nibley shuffled back a few steps after being addressed, twiddling the ragged bed cloth in his hands and shifting back and forth on his feet. 

“A-an owl just arrived, master, s-sir.” He grabbed a letter from behind him and held it up for Chevalier to take, his large amber eyes ever glued to the floor. 

Chevalier walked briskly forward and hurriedly opened the letter, reading only three simple words which caused the reality to set that the moment was finally upon him. 

“Oh, Merlin…” he exclaimed under his breath and ran over to grab his wand, dropping the letter on the ground. He swiftly turned to his house elf, telling the house elf to make sure the house is spick and span by the time he returned. With that, he promptly disapparated, leaving Nibley standing, still twiddling his thumbs. 

Curiosity got the better of him after his master had left. Picking up the letter, he read the three simple words that caused Master Chevalier to be sent into such a frenzy. 

“The letter came.” 

~*~*~

“I… I’m not sure I understand…”

Camila and Steven sat across from their goddaughter. After delivering the full backstory to her life, Kenni is understandably overwhelmed. Eliana sat next to the side of Kenni and her parents, surveying the situation. Her head was swiveling back and forth as the conversation progressed. 

“I know… this is… hard.” Steven started before being cut off by Kenni. 

“W-why haven’t you told me this before?” Her tone was calm, but her eyes were alert with anger, sadness, betrayal, and confusion. 

Steven and Camila look to one another and then back to the young girl in front of her. “We thought it would’ve been best to wait until you were older like this so you could understand--” 

“I’m sure I would’ve understood perfectly if you would’ve told me that I was going to be taken away from my family and put with a random man that I didn’t know.” Her voice started to shake as her emotions began to overwhelm her. 

“It’s not some random man, Ken. It’s your dad. You’ve been with us because it was the safest situation for you and those around you.” Camila tried desperately to tell the girl, pain evident in her voice. “You don’t understand how dangerous the world is. I don’t even fully understand the danger. I just know that your mother was killed and that the look in your father’s eyes was genuine fear.” 

This caused Kenni to stop as she was about to argue. She looked to the floor, mulling over the words that her godmother just told her. 

They did this to protect her. They did this because people have died because of her. 

“Kenni,” Steven spoke gently after a moment. He continued speaking when Kenni’s eyes locked with his. She saw the tears in his eyes. “Don’t you think for a moment that we’re just going to move on with our lives and forget about you. We love you so much.” He reached forward and grabbed her hand for emphasis. “So much.” 

They were interrupted by a knock at the door. 

The tension in the room elevated tenfold. No one moved to answer it. 

“Guess I better go pack, then.” Kenni’s eyes brimmed with tears, yet the rest of her young face remained stoic. She stood, held her head high, and tried to put on a brave face. 

Eliana looked from her parents to where the girl who was practically her sister exited. She then stood, “I’ll go help her,” and followed Kenni up to their room.

Kenni got to her room and immediately grabbed her trunk suitcase, threw the lid back, and began tossing everything she could reach into it. Tears silently streamed down her face the entire time.

She didn’t notice that Eliana stood in the doorway and watched her emotionally pack. After a few short moments that felt like years, Eliana moved forward, stopped Kenni, and brought her into a tight hug. Both of the 11-year-olds hugged each other tightly and cried. 

“It’s going to be okay.” Eliana wasn’t sure if she was trying to convince herself or Kenni. Probably both. “We’ll see each other again. We’re both going to the same school. We’ll be there all year. It’ll be okay. It’s not like this is forever.” 

All Kenni could do was nod, her tears prohibited her from properly formulating words. She pulled away after a minute, looking at Eliana before turning back to her room.  
“We should keep packing.” 

Eliana nodded and they both silently continued to grab all that they could to put into Kenni’s trunk. 

When they finished, Kenni and Eliana stood at the door and examined the room together. Looking over the bare dresser and empty closet almost caused Kenni to start crying again. But just before the tears left her eyes, she turned and lugged her suitcase down the stairs, Eliana trailing behind her. 

When they reached the bottom, they dragged the suitcase and left it by the door and then proceeded into the living room where the remnants of their birthday celebration remained. 

The second they both entered, all three adults in the room stood. Kenni’s godparents looked positively forlorn, with bloodshot eyes and tear-stained cheeks. The third adult Kenni assumed was her father. 

Both father and daughter stood, gaze fixated on one another as they scrutinized each other. Kenni could say that he was her father. Not much of them were the same, but she knew because his eyes were the same as hers, only more haggard and less innocent. 

Chevalier stood and gawked at his daughter for a moment, completely in awe of the fact that she looked so much like her mother. He took a deep breath before speaking. 

“Hello, Kennilworthy,” He said softly, not entirely trusting his own voice. 

“Hi,” Kenni simply nodded, not having the heart to tell him her unappreciation for her full name. 

“I’m Chevalier Rowle.” His tone was similar to one someone would use while approaching a wild animal. He hesitated before adding, “Your father.”

Kenni nodded once more. She didn’t quite know what to say. Everything in her world was changing at such a rapid pace that she felt like if she spoke, the words would just get lost in some distant passage of time and no one would hear them. 

“We should get going.” Chevalier turned to Steven and Camila, “I hate to whisk her away like this, but I fear I’ve been here too long.” 

Steven nodded once, curtly, his jaw was tense like he was trying to hold back a sob. He had his arm wrapped around Camila as tears flowed freely down her face but, like her husband, was trying her best to remain poised. 

Rowle then turned back to his daughter. “I’m afraid it’s time to say goodbye, Kenni.” 

Kenni looked up at him, and then back to her godparents. She nodded at them, afraid if she were to do more, she would never leave and everyone would be put in danger. “Goodbye,” 

They nodded, back, looking slightly defeated. Kenni turned to walk away but stopped, her urge to properly say goodbye to the people who raised her and loved her too strong. 

She quickly spun and wrapped her arms around both Steven and Camila and squeezed them tightly, trying to convey all the love she had for them into this one embrace. Tears freely flew down her face. Camila and Steven hugged her back, crying just as hard. They both knew this day would come, but they tried to ignore the inevitable, causing the moment to be more painful. 

“I love you,” Kenni managed to choke out between a sob. 

Camila squeezed the girl she had viewed as practically one of her own tighter, “We love you, too, Kenni. So much.” 

Steven echoed his wife, “So. Much.” 

Kenni wanted to never let go. She wanted to stay with them and Eliana and be happy forever. She wanted to wake up in the morning and play with her best friend. She wanted to play with Flower and Tom. She wanted to do the dishes with her aunt, no matter how much she loathed the chore.

Kenni would have given anything at that moment just to be with them forever. She would’ve washed a thousand plates, fed a million dogs, and folded a trillion beds if it meant that she could be with the Pypers for the rest of her life.

But fate had a different plan for her. 

As Steven and Camila let go, Kenni still held on for just a few moments longer, before a hand was laid on her shoulder. Releasing her godparents, she turned, expecting to see Chevalier, but instead seeing a crying Eliana.

The pain in Eliana’s eyes was so evident as Kenni looked at her. Not able to bring herself to stare into the girl’s blue eyes any longer, she wrapped her arms around the girl in a tight hug. Both girls stood there, hugging, similar to what they did upstairs. Except, this time, their hug was not one to comfort one another, it was one to say goodbye. 

Eliana’s arms were so tight around Kenni, she thought she might break a rib. But Kenni didn’t really care, for she was hugging Eliana equally as tight. There was a tidal wave of emotion that hit Kenni at this moment. It was as though everything finally caught up with her, the shock wore off and reality set in. She squeezed Eliana ever tighter, trying to force the pain to go away as she gripped onto the girl. 

“I… I’m so sorry to rush this, but…” Chevalier started, guiltily. He truly didn’t want to ruin the girl’s goodbyes, however, he knew that time was running out. He needed to get the girl home. 

Kenni and Eliana pulled apart.

“This isn’t goodbye,” Kenni stated.

Eliana nodded. “This isn’t goodbye.” 

Both girls tearfully looked away. Kenni stared at the floor for a moment before raising her head high and looking towards her father. 

“Let’s go.” Kenni walked out of the room and towards the front door. She didn’t look back as she exited the house. Chevalier was close on her heels. Kenni felt him standing next to her. She looked over to him and saw him surveying the land in front of them. 

Feeling her stare, he looked down at her. He held out his hand. Kenni looked at his hand, noticing the rough calluses. She hesitantly reached up and grabbed it.

She had a strong impulse to look back, but she ignored it. She knew that if she were to look back, the heartbreak would settle and she would break down into a blubbering, useless pile of tears. And if there was anything Kenni hated in this world, it was feeling useless. 

“Here we go.” Kenni heard Chevalier mutter before the world around them popped out of existence and a new one took its place.

Upon arriving at Rowle manor, she found it to be rather dismal. That wasn’t to say it wasn’t grand, because the Rowle manor was nothing if not grand. It had high ceilings and wide rooms full of practically nothing, however, it all was quite dark. She found it to be the stark opposite of what she was used to. 

“Here we are.” Chevalier said quietly, “Home sweet home.” 

Kenni was wide-eyed in awe as she looked at her surroundings. She remained quiet until Nibley decided to make an appearance and offer his assistance to his Master. As Kenni caught a glimpse of the house elf, she let out a scream and stumbled back, not all accustomed to seeing such a creature. Nibley, the poor soul, being a rather fearful creature by nature, reacted to her scream with a scream of his own and fell to the floor. 

Chevalier just sighed. “Kenni, meet Nibley, my house elf. Nibley, this is Kenni. She will be your new Mistress.”

Kenni looked from Nibley to her father, “House elf?” 

“A magic servant creature,” Chevalier explained as if it were the most simple thing of all time. 

Kenni just nodded slowly, overwhelmed. 

Once Nibley had been introduced he popped up and walked over to Chevalier. “M-may Nibley take Mistress’s b-belongings t-t-to her room?” He asked, still quite hesitant due to the fight Kenni gave him earlier. 

“Please,” Chevalier spoke for his daughter. “And show her to her room. I’m sure she’ll want to get settled in.” 

“Yes, M-master, sir.” Nibley obediently snapped his fingers and the trunk disappeared. He looked towards Kenni briefly before his eyes quickly returned to their usual spot on the floor. “Follow Nibley, m-mistress.” 

He then turned and hobbled off towards the stairs, rather quickly. Not wanting to lose sight of him for fear of getting lost in this large house, she looked back to Chevalier and then ran off to follow the retreating creature.

Nibley took her from the foyer, through the living room, and towards the stairs. Kenni barely had time to take in her surroundings, but she thinks she caught sight of some pictures that were moving. Promising herself she would return to investigate she followed the house elf up the stairs and down a hall. 

Nibley muttered to himself the entire way he hobbled. Seeming arbitrary to Kenni, the house elf stopped and turned to one of the rooms in the middle of the hall. 

He opened the door and stood to the side, fiddling with his bed cloth. “H-here you g-go.” 

Kenni smiled slightly at the small creature, “Thank you,” she said softly before entering. 

The room was quite nice. It was lighter than the rest of the house. The wall on the other side of the door was lined with windows. In the center of the room sat a large canopy bed. Mahogany dressers were on either side. Her trunk sat at the bed’s foot. Other than those items, the room was rather plain. 

“N-Nibley will give M-mistress some priv-vacy now.” He stuttered as he closed the door behind him. 

Kenni slowly walked over to her trunk and opened it. She grabbed her lamb stuffed animal that laid on top and went to go sit on the bed. The bed was high and she had to sort of climb up to get onto it, but once she got up, she sat there and looked out the window, hugging the stuffed animal to her chest. 

The sky was still blue, the sun still shone brightly, and the birds still chirped, but none of it reached Kenni’s ears. To her, the sky looked less colorful, the bird’s songs were mournful, and the sun seemed dull. 

In the span of an hour, her entire life changed. She lost her Aunt ‘Ammie and her Uncle ‘Eve. She lost her home and her pets. She lost her life. Kenni’s world was flipped on its head. She tried to think about what had just taken place, but it only made her head spin, so she decided to lay down. 

She hugged her lamb tightly and allowed the tears to freely flow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys! I hope you liked it! Don't forget to comment and tell me your thoughts!!   
> Stay safe and stay healthy!  
> \- Kate


	5. TWO

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Kenni gets her school supplies, gains a pet, a wand, and meets two rather strange boys.

Kenni sat across from Chevalier on the morning of August 19th, 1971. A month and a half had passed since she had arrived at Rowle Manor, and they had given up on small talk, so their meals were almost always spent in silence. The only talking they usually did was when Nibley would sheepishly ask them if Master, sir would like more coffee or if Mistress Kenni would care for another lump of sugar in her tea. 

Kenni had become used to Nibley over time. She actually became quite fond of him. Nibley had become slightly less shy around her as time went on. Kenni, finding his meek behavior endearing, often called for him just so she could talk to him. 

Around the third day after her arrival, Nibley had invited her to explore the extent of the house. Kenni discovered she was rather fond of the parlor, which held pictures of various people. She would sit and watch the scenes interact and occasionally talk to the paintings. She learned a lot about wizard life that way. 

She learned that Rowle’s grandmother (her great-grandmother) had been quite an elitist. Kenni, heeding the warning Chevalier gave her at dinner, said nothing of her true background. 

“I’m afraid that even with you here, you are still in danger.” He had said. “You cannot let anyone know you are my daughter. The fact that your mother was a muggle--”

“Muggle?” Kenni interrupted, quite confused by the word.

“Someone who does not have the ability to do magic.” Chevalier explained simply, “Anyways, as I was saying, you cannot let anyone know that your mother was a muggle.”

“How come?” 

Chevalier elaborated, “I’m afraid the people who I surround myself with are not… supportive… of muggles. They only care for blood status, meaning purebloods, who are witches and wizards whos family tree consists entirely of other witches and wizards. They believe that those who are muggle-born or who associate with muggles are the scum of the earth and should be eradicated. It’s rather bigoted.” 

Kenni cocked her head in his direction, “Why do you surround yourself with them, then?” 

“Because,” The man sighed, “I’m afraid I’m in too deep to turn back now. Much like yourself, I would be in danger if I spoke out against them.” 

It didn’t quite make sense to Kenni how one would get in a situation such as his, to begin with. How could one believe that one human being was less than another simply because of their family? She didn’t like it. She didn’t like it one bit.

“Kenni, I need you to understand just how dangerous they are. If our secret gets out good people could die. People like Steven and Camila.” Chevalier pressed. 

That was the thing that struck Kenni. The absolute weight of the situation. She couldn’t let her family die. This fact settled on Kenni’s chest and came to the forefront of her mind whenever she talked with her great-grandmother. 

Kenni was brought from her thoughts as Chevalier spoke in the morning. “Today we’re going to go get your school supplies.” 

Kenni looked at him, “School supplies? Where can we go to get those?” 

“There’s a place in London. It’s called Diagon Alley. You’ll find everything you need on that list and more there. We’ll leave once you’re finished eating.” Chevalier explained before wiping his mouth with his napkin, putting it next to his plate, and standing. “I’m going to go grab my wallet.” 

Kenni watched as he walked off. Once he was out of sight, Nibley decided to creep out from his corner and quickly clean his Master’s place. 

“Nibley,” She addressed the hard-working elf, curious about a number of things. “Do you get paid to do house chores?” 

Nibley jumped when he was addressed, as he did every time, and turned to her with wide eyes, “P-paid? N-n-Nibley?” He then averted his eyes towards the ground as his breathing picked up. “Nibley most d-definitely does not g-get paid, Mistress Kenni. Nibley wouldn’t even k-know what to d-do with m-m-money.” 

Quite overwhelmed, (although, it doesn’t take much to overwhelm the poor dear) he grabbed the dishes and scuffled off to the kitchen. 

Kenni sat in her chair for a moment, thinking over (as she often has in the past month and a half) how strange the magical world is. She then shrugged, decided to accept it because her father had just reentered the room, signaling that it was time to leave. 

Diagon Alley was like no place Kenni had ever seen. 

Nearly everyone there was dressed in long robes. Some had strange hats and bizarre headbands. But, every one of the people there seemed perfectly content and at ease with the odd stores and curious guise of this particular Alley. 

Kenni was wide-eyed and rather unsure of what to focus on. She held her list tightly in one hand and held to the sleeve of her father’s robes with her other.

The first store they visited was at the very beginning of the alleyway. Chevalier led the young girl into a rather dark looking store filled with all sorts of strange pots. The sign above the door read “Potage’s Cauldron Shop”, which led Kenni to infer that they were shopping for the 1 Standard Size 2, pewter cauldron that was on her list. 

That purchase was a quick and uneventful one, they simply walked in, Chevalier grabbed a cauldron, put it on the counter, gave the stubby old man behind the counter some strange looking coins, took the cauldron, and walked out of the store. 

Chevalier took Kenni’s hand and led her further into the fray. They passed a store with children surrounding the window, all looking, awestruck, at the broom which was on a stand behind the glass. Kenni did not see the appeal in a broom and was rather confused as to why they were looking at it in such awe. 

They walked further, passing a store full of owls. Chevalier, seeing Kenni’s awestruck face as they reached the Eelyop’s Owl Emporium, was suddenly given an idea. With the young girl in hand, he walked into the Emporium. 

“What are we doing?” Kenni looked up to her father as he led her past the periwinkle colored door. 

“I realized I never got you a birthday gift.” He stated simply. 

They stood in the middle of the store, surrounded by owls. Kenni looked from the tall man beside her to the various birds in the room, and then back to the man beside her.

“Well…” Chevalier edged her, “Pick one.” 

Kenni’s eyes went wide, “‘P-pick one’?”

Chevalier nodded, “So you can keep in touch with… old friends.” 

Kenni was, in a word, gobstruck. She looked around the room and saw so many different birds. Big owls with dark feathers, small owls with light feathers. She saw owls with heart-shaped faces and owls that were so covered in feathers, they looked like tiny balls of fluff with eyes and a beak. 

Kenni’s eyes finally rested on one owl that sat in the corner of the room. It had sort of a regal presence. It was black and white speckled, with bright yellow eyes that were locked on Kenni. The young witch approached it, not breaking eye-contact. The bird appeared as though it had makeup on, and seemed to make a point to bat its long eyelashes at the girl. 

She smiled at it as it cocked its head at her as if to say, “Like what you see?” 

She turned back to Chevalier, “This one.” 

A tall, lanky woman whose hooked nose caused her likeness to appear that of an owl, made her way from a back room. 

“Can I help you?” She cooed. 

“Yes,” Chevalier nodded, “We’d like to purchase that owl.”

He gestured over to the owl that Kenni had selected. 

“Mmm,” The woman hummed as she flittered over to the cage, “The noble Eurasian Eagle Owl. A respectable choice, if I may say so. Carries such strength and power, that breed does. A great, respectable choice, ma’am.” 

She brought the owl over to the counter, where the purchase was made. Chevalier turned to hand the cage to Kenn, but before Kenni took it, she wrapped her arms around her father’s torso, tightly. 

“Thank you,” She whispered. 

Chevalier, rather surprised by her sudden action, awkwardly patted her back. “Yes, of course. Now, take your owl, please.” 

Kenni pulled away and beamed at him, taking it carefully so she didn’t startle the large bird in the cage. Chevalier nodded to the woman and put his hand on Kenni’s shoulder, guiding her out of the store.

“What are you going to name her?” 

Kenni looked up to Chevalier and then back to the owl in front of her, “I hadn’t thought of that.” 

The corners of Chevalier’s mouth edged up into a small smile. “You’ll think of something. In the meantime, let's get your robes because Flourish and Blotts looks far too crowded, at the moment.” 

Kenni followed him into a yellow store with a sign that said in a rather swirly font “Madame Malkin’s Robes for All Occasions”. 

Getting Kenni fitted for robes was a rather interesting process. Chevalier paid the elaborately robed man the moment they walked in. The man then snapped his fingers at Kenni and pointed to a small, raised platform. She simply stood there as the man came forward and took her measurements. A quill and pad of paper followed him around, jotting down whatever the man muttered. The man took a robe and pinned things here and there. He then picked up his wand, waved it at her, and the robe slid off of her shoulders and onto a table, where a sewing needle and thread began to work on their own.  
While she stood there, she thought of what to name her owl. Aphrodite was the first to come to mind because of her owl’s beautiful features, however, “Aphrodite” was quite a mouthful, so Kenni decided against that one. Next, she thought of Euridice from the story of Orpheus and Euridice, again because of Euridice’s alleged beauty. (she was quite fond of Greek mythology, and naming her owl a simple name like “Susan” did not seem to fit the regal creature). But, like the first one, it proved to be quite difficult to say. She, then, thought of Hera because the goddess’s royal status seemed to parallel her owl’s royal behavior. That idea was abandoned when she thought of the name Vega. 

Kenni didn’t know much about astrology, however, she knew the names of some stars for Uncle Eve had taken Eliana and Kenni stargazing quite a few times. Kenni recalled how her godfather had so passionately pointed out various constellations, naming their brightest stars. Some reason, the name “Vega”, the brightest star in the constellation “Lyra”, stuck out to her the most. 

Kenni looked to her owl who was sitting in her cage and grinned, deciding that Vega fit her perfectly. It made her think of her godparents and best friend, which brought a dull aching to her chest. She tried to ignore it as she stared at her owl who was preening her feathers. 

“NEXT!” The man shouted, causing Kenni to jump and scramble out of the way as the next student to get measured came forward. 

She walked around and observed the robes that were on display throughout the room. She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to see her empty robes floating there. They folded themselves up and placed themselves in a bag next to Kenni. The bag then floated over and shoved its handles into her empty hand. Her full hand was occupied by her owl, who gave her a rather bored look. 

“Come,” Chevalier said, startling the girl from her shocked daze. “Flourish and Blotts looks to have emptied out significantly. Let’s get your books.” 

They walked over to the orange book store. There were books and books galore.  
“This will probably go faster if we split up,” Chevalier said, not looking at Kenni, but instead surveying the shelves upon shelves of books. He took Vega from Kenni’s hand and held her cauldron under his other arm. “I will get the first four, and you get the second four. We will meet at the counter when we’re finished.”

And, with that, he simply walked off.

Kenni didn’t have the slightest clue where to begin, however, she decided to walk in the opposite direction of her father. She pulled her list from the pocket of her jeans where she had shoved it while getting fitted for robes. 

“One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi,” She muttered to herself. Looking up, she walked up and down the aisles, searching for a clue as to where to start. In searching for that clue, she found “Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find them” and “Magical Drafts and Potions”.

She continued to pace, searching for “One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi” when it literally came and hit her in the face. 

She fell to the ground, clutching her nose where the book decided to land. 

“Nice job, Black, you hit a girl in the face.”

“Shut up, Potter. Merlin, I am so sorry, are you alright?” 

She looked up to see a pair of grey eyes peering back at her. A boy with rather sharp features and long, dark hair looked back at her. He offered her his hand. 

“I’m fine,” Kenni got out as she rubbed her aching nose. “You managed to find the book I was looking for, though, so thank you for that.” 

The boy grinned, “You’re welcome. See, Potter, I helped her.” 

The bespeckled boy with wild hair, leaning against the bookshelf rolled his eyes, “Yeah, helped her find her book by nearly giving her a broken nose. That was a wicked jump, though, I must say.” 

The grey-eyed boy who Kenni recalled being addressed as “Black”, smirked over his shoulder, “It was, wasn’t it.” He turned back to Kenni, “Anyways, I’m Sirius. Sirius Black. This here is James Potter.”

He offered his hand to shake. Kenni took it and opened her mouth to introduce herself, but was cut off by a shrieking voice. 

“SIRIUS!!” 

Sirius flinched, then retracted his hand. “Ugh. My mother. Ruiner of all things nice. You were saying?”

Kenni, rather confused by his statement, carried on. “I-I’m Ken--” 

“SIRIUS ORION BLACK!!” 

Sirius groaned, “Sorry. My mother sticks hard and fast to the saying ‘No rest for the wicked’. Always rudely interrupting my conversations with pretty girls.” He winked at her, “Anyways, can’t keep ‘em waiting. I’ll see you around!” 

Kenni stood, rather flustered and disoriented as the boy left. Leaving her with the Potter boy who had a slight scowl as he watched Sirius leave. James seemed to remember that he was not alone and looked back to Kenni. 

“Right. Well. Sorry about your nose. I best be on my merry way as well. Ta ta!” He gave her a two-finger salute before rounding the bookshelf, leaving Kenni alone in the aisle. She shook her head, picked up the book, and went to find her father. 

They met, bought the books, and left for Magical Menagerie where they picked up the rest of Kenni’s items. 

The last thing on her list was a wand. 

When Kenni asked Chevalier about her wand, he said that he saved that for last because he knew that it had the potential to take the longest to get out of everything on her list. Not to mention everyone would be rushing to get their wands first, so getting them now would mean that Ollivanders would be less crowded. 

They walked into Ollivander’s Wand Shop and just as Flourish and Blotts had been covered with books, Olivander’s was covered with tiny boxes. A man with wild, greying hair, stood to the left, muttering to himself and wiggling his fingers at the wall of boxes.

As soon as the bell rang, alerting all who were in the store that there were more customers, the man stopped his muttering and turned swiftly to Chevalier and Kenni. 

“Ah. Rowle! Chevalier Rowle! Yes, yes, I remember you well. 12 inches, phoenix feather, Vinewood, surprisingly swishy flexibility. Good for defense, was it not?” The man’s pale eyes shone brightly as they stared intently at Chevalier. 

The latter nodded, “Yes it was, Mr. Ollivander. And now--” 

“Ah,” Mr. Ollivander took notice of Kenni, interrupting Chevalier. “Yes. Kennilworthy Switch-Rowle. I see I see. Yes. Hmm. This shall be an interesting case. An interesting case, indeed. Yes. I see. Hmm.”

He spun on his heel and walked off. Kenni looked to Chevalier questioningly. Chevalier simply gave her a knowing smile as the man returned with a box in hand. 

“Yes, yes. Hmm. Let’s try this one, shall we?” He opened the box and drew a dark wand out of it. “11-and-a-half inches, cypress wood, dragon heartstring, quite yielding.” He offered Kenni the handle of the wand. 

She hesitantly took it. She looked from her father to the man before her to the wand and back to the man before her. 

“Well, try it out!” Ollivander urged her. 

“I don’t know any spells…” She muttered, unsure of what to do. 

“Nevermind spells. Just give it a wave.” The older man waved his hands at her as if fanning away her ignorance. 

Kenni looked around once more and flicked her wand slightly, causing the flames of the candles to go out and the wicks to snap in half. Kenni felt rather bad. 

Ollivander’s eyes widened and plucked the wand from her hand. “I think not.” 

He muttered to himself some more as he grabbed two more wands off the shelves. He took one of the boxes and handed it to her. 

“13 inches, dogwood, fairly bendy, phoenix feather core. I trust you know what to do with this, now.” 

Kenni took the wand and flicked it again. This time, the chair that stood next to her fell into pieces. Kenni quickly put the wand back into the box that the bright-eyed man was holding. 

“Sorry...” Kenni mumbled. 

“Nevermind that, nevermind that, dear girl, it’s nothing that can’t be fixed. Here,” he gave yet another one, “Try this. 12 inches, hawthorn wood, unicorn hair, rather brittle.” 

She took this one and closed her eyes as she flicked it. She was sure glad she did because a rather loud crash followed and she felt the wand snatched from her grasp. 

“No, no, and no. Hmm. Interesting case. Truly an interesting case. Yes.” He continued to rumble as he hobbled off. Something stopped him dead in his tracks. He dropped the wands in his hands to the floor and stuck a finger in the air. “AH-HA!” 

He scurried off and returned with another wand. “This one. I’m sure of it. 14 inches, English oak, unicorn hair, reasonably supple. Rather good for magic of the natural sort. Interesting indeed, quite so, quite so.”

He handed it to her. She took it, and immediately the candles righted themselves, the chair was put back together, and the window (which had been the source of the crash) mended itself. The hair on her arms stood upright and a sort of warm chill flooded her. 

“Yes, yes, indeed. Quite right. Quite nice. It is said that Merlin himself had a wand of English oak! Although, none can prove it for his grave cannot be found. Any roads, I think this is a rather apt fit, a rather apt fit indeed.” Ollivander rambled, looking rather proud of himself. “Yes, yes. Now in way of payment…” 

Kenni stopped listening and observed her wand. It was quite lovely. It was long and a light brown color covered it. It was polished and reflected the light as she turned it over in her hands. It was about an inch thick. It was quite smooth. It had a square handle that turned into the round body of the wand. Each side of the handle had engravings of roses. It was quite beautiful. 

Kenni was brought back to the present as Chevalier put his hand on Kenni's shoulder. 

“Come along, Kenni. It’s time for us to be heading home.” He spoke deeply. 

Kenni nodded, feeling rather accomplished with her day.

“Thank you for buying all this for me,” Kenni said. 

Chevalier nodded and looked down at her with the slightest smile on his face. “Of course.” 

They apparated back to Rowle Manor and were greeted by a shy Nibley, who snapped his fingers, causing Kenni’s new items to magically go to her room. He gently took the cage for Vega, careful not to bother her and hobbled up the stairs to Kenni’s room. 

Kenni got to her room and looked at all of her belongings. She began to settle into the fact that this was her home now. Everything that had so rapidly changed within the past weeks suddenly made sense. She fell back on her bed, for the first time since she arrived, with a slight smile on her face, anticipating greatly her first year at Hogwarts. 

For some reason, her thoughts were brought to the grey-eyed boy she met in Flourish and Blotts. Something about him stopped her. The way he flinched when his mother called to him caused Kenni to stop in her tracks. It was quite peculiar behavior for a young boy. However, she didn’t have time to think about him any further, for Nibley came into her room and told her it was time for supper.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!  
> Please don't forget to comment and leave kudos!  
> Stay safe and stay healthy!  
> \- Kate


	6. THREE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Kenni goes to platform 9 3/4 and meets some old and new faces.

After supper the night they had gotten her school supplies, Kenni raced upstairs to spend some quality time with her owl. She took Vega out of her cage and placed her on the owlstand that stood by the open window. The great bird looked grateful to be out of the iron bars. She stretched her wings as Kenni pet and talked to Vega as if she was a human. Vega seemed to enjoy the attention and gave the girl haughty yet affectionate expressions as Kenni stroked her wings. After a few minutes of discussion, Kenni decided to write a letter to her godfamily. She got out her quill and a piece of parchment and sat down at the desk that was in the corner of her room. 

“Dear Pypers,

I miss you all so much! I’ve thought about you every single day! How have you been? Has El gotten her wand yet? What does it look like? I have mine. It’s 14 inches, english oak with a unicorn hair core! What’s hers? How’s Flower? Is El going to bring her as her pet to hogwarts? 

“Aunt Cammie, how’re you? I miss your cooking so much. Nibley cooks everything here. Nibley’s a house elf. He’s rather shy, but is quite sweet once you get past the first layers. He kinda looks like those hairless cats we saw at the pet shop a few years ago. Remember how weird they looked? That’s kinda what Nibley looks like. But his eyes are bigger and yellow and he walks on two legs and wears a pillowcase, I think. He’s a good cook and cleans nicely, but his cooking is nothing compared to yours, Auntie! 

“Uncle Steve, how’re you doing? How’s your work? I miss the conversations we have at dinner. It’s so quiet during dinner times. I would speak up, but, to be honest, he scares me. Speaking of my dad, we haven’t discussed what exactly I should call him. He calls me Kenni like everyone else, but I haven’t figured out how to address him. I guess I could call him dad. I’ll talk with him about it tomorrow and figure it out. How’s Tom? I miss that big floppy guy. 

“His house is kinda dark. It makes me feel sad. It’s so big, though! I would’ve gotten lost quite a few times if Nibley wasn’t there to help me. OH MY GOSH, THE PAINTINGS MOVE, TOO! You can talk to them and they go about their day! It’s so cool! I’ve met my grandma. She’s rather stiff, but it’s cool that I get to talk to her!” 

She flicked the quill between her index and middle finger as she thought of what to write next, which resulted in her getting ink splattered all over her desk. 

“Shoot!” She exclaimed and called Nibley. Nibley appeared by her side with a loud pop, causing Kenni to jump in surprise and shriek, which led to Nibley doing the same thing, then stumble back and trip over the protruding leg of the owl stand. Nibley fell onto his bum as the owl stand began to wobble, on the verge of falling over with Vega still on top. Vega flapped her wings in an attempt to stay balanced. Her flailing only aided in toppling the stand over. Vega resulted in hopping to the windowsill and resting there, ruffling her feathers indignantly. 

Kenni cringed as the stand fell on top of Nibley with a loud thud. After it stopped staggering on the floor, she hurried over to the house elf on the floor, rubbing his head. 

“Oh my gosh, Nibley, are you okay? I’m so sorry--” She rambled until Nibley cut her off. 

“Mistress Kenni mustn't worry herself over Nibley,” He stated, being too distracted by his pain to think of his anxiety. “Nibley is okay. What did Mistress Kenni call Nibley for?” 

Nibley raised his large eyes to Kenni who smiled happily, excited that he’s looking at her without fear. 

“I accidentally splattered ink on my desk. I was wondering if you could get me some sort of rag to clean it.” She explained. 

His eyes widened further, suddenly remembering his fears and averted his gaze to the ground. “G-give Mistress a r-r-rag?” 

He paused for a moment, letting her words settle. “D-d-d-does M-Mistress Kenni not think N-Nibley is a good cleaner?” He thought out loud. 

Nibley’s words struck Kenni like a bat. “No! No, no, no! It’s not that I don’t think you’re a good cleaner! I think you’re a splendid cleaner! You clean everything so it’s spotless! It's remarkable cleaning! I couldn’t do any better!” Kenni rambled, trying to rectify what she had said. “I just… forgot that you could clean it up for me… I simply wanted to help, if I could.” 

Nibley’s eyes filled with tears and he raised his gaze to look at Kenni with a look of adoration, “N-No one has e-ever c-c-c-complimented Nibley before.” He wiped his eyes on the backs of his arms. “N-N-Nibley would be honored to aid M-Mistress Kenni in w-w-whatever c-cleaning Mis-stress Kenni w-w-wants to d-d-do.” 

Kenni grinned, “And I would be honored to have you aid me. Come on, why don’t you get some rags and we can clean together.” 

Nibley obeyed with wide, awestruck eyes. 

After they had finished cleaning together, Kenni decided to end her letter there in order to avoid any more potential drama. She signed her name, giving them her love. She was about to seal the envelope, when she realized she hadn’t explained who Vega was. She quickly unfolded the parchment and added, “P.s. This is Vega. Dad got her for me as a late birthday present so I could talk to you! He also told me that she needs to be tipped, so give her a cracker or any spare wizard change you have.” 

She smiled at her ending and mailed off her letter to the Pyper family. She was slightly nervous as she tied the letter to Vega’s leg like she had seen her Hogwarts letters tied. She was nervous that Vega wouldn’t know the way there and wouldn’t come back. However, she decided that Vega would know the way, otherwise Wizards wouldn’t use owls for their post. 

Over the next two weeks, she and her god family had shared over 6 letters. Vega was happy to be getting all the action, being a rather active bird. On her off nights, she’d be absent from her perch to go hunting and whatnot only to be discovered during the day with her head tucked under her wing, fast asleep. 

Kenni and Nibley also became closer, as well. Nibley no longer stuttered constantly when she was around. He only stuttered when Kenni caught him off guard with a question about the Wizarding world. Kenni learned quite a bit from Nibley. She also helped him with quite a few of his chores. She kept herself busy in order to distract herself from the impending September 1st. 

As the next two weeks went by, the excitement Kenni felt after her trip to Diagon Alley gave way to anxiousness. Her father (with whom, true to her word, Kenni discussed labels with the day after sending her first letter. They had decided that “dad” and other patronly pseudonyms worked for Chevalier since he was “adopting” her) had taken every possible opportunity to drill into her just how important it was to keep her background a secret. He reminded her time and time again of the stakes--of how people could and would die if this got out. His constant pestering was what watered the flower that was her anxiety. 

So many thoughts ran through her head as Chevalier and Kenni walked through King’s Cross station. Could she keep this a secret in order to protect the Pypers? How could she make friends with the risk of people finding out about her? What house would she be sorted into? Chevalier had told her about the house to which he belonged: the house of Slytherin. Would she be a Slytherin? What would happen if she wasn’t sorted into Slytherin? Chevalier didn’t tell her much about the other houses, only that they were called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw. If she wasn’t sorted into Slytherin, would it make her look suspicious? Not many others knew about her existence. A few of Chevalier’s friends had stopped by at one time or another, but she never actually met them. Chevalier had always sent her up to her room as soon as the knock was heard on the door. He had always told his guests that he was adopting his late wife’s cousin. He had said that he wanted to make a grand reveal of her at christmas time, in order to avoid suspicion. Kenni knew that there were people that knew she was “adopted” by Chevalier Rowle. She was worried that they would judge her for not being in Slytherin like her “guardian”. 

All around, she was worried about her first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She didn’t realize that she was knocking on her wrist (something she did when she was anxious or stressed) until Chevalier placed his large hand over her smaller ones. 

“Relax. You’ll have a good year.” He smiled at her, encouragingly. 

She did as he said and relaxed slightly. She looked towards the pillar that they were approaching. She sent Chevalier a silent question. 

Chevalier smiled, mischievously. “This is our doorway to the Hogwarts Express.” He gestured towards the stone pillar before them. Kenni approached it, examining it thoroughly. 

“I’m pretty sure this is just a pillar, dad.” She skeptically stated. 

“Are you?” Chevalier sounded amused, he raised an eyebrow. 

“Am I what?”

“Are you sure?” 

Kenni hesitated. 

Her hesitation gave way when a small family came fluttering by. The mother was fussing over her two children: a tall boy, no older than 13 and a short blonde who appeared to be about Kenni’s age. At first glance, she had thought the girl was Eliana, but the longer she looked and the closer the girl came the more Kenni realized that she was definitely not her best friend.

“Come on, martian, you’re going to make us late!” The older boy complained as the girl struggled to keep up. 

“I thought I told you not to call me that in public, Danny-panny.” She said his nickname with such forceful venom that it was obvious she was using it as retaliation. 

“Both of you stop it!” The mother scolded them before turning to Kenni and Chevalier. The woman took note of Vega and her eyes widened. “I see we’re not alone here!” She looked over to Kenni who was standing by Chevalier’s side. “And it looks like we have another first year here, too! Were you two about to go?”

Kenni was about to shake her head, when Chevalier spoke up.

“She was getting up the courage. Why don’t you two show her how.” He nodded in their direction, politely. 

The older boy looked at Kenni with a nod. The corner of his mouth curled up in a slight smirk. He took his trolley and ran full speed at the wall. Kenni winced, but didn’t want to look away entirely in case her father was right. 

She saw him disappear and her eyes went wide. Chevalier smiled down at her a little, his brow quirked in a “I told you so” way as Kenni looked at him in shock. 

The blonde girl came up next. She smiled widely at Kenni. “You just gotta run! The magic will do the rest.” She spoke surely. She then spun towards the wall and broke into a run, disappearing just as her brother had done. 

The mother followed in suit. Next, it was Kenni’s turn.

She sighed heavily before muttering quietly to herself. “I don’t know why I question things anymore.” 

Chevalier chuckled lightly beside her before she took a deep breath and ran towards the pillar. Instead of colliding with it, she found herself amidst a bunch of witches and wizards. There was a bright red train that sat on the tracks. Nearly all of the people had the same sort of pequliar look to them, despite being in “normal” muggle clothes. 

Kenni was just beginning to take in the scene when she was nearly tackled in a hug. 

“I MISSED YOU SO MUCH!!” 

Kenni caught sight of blonde hair and recognized both the bubbly voice and the smell of cherries and peaches. 

Eliana.

Kenni immediately hugged back, tightly. 

“I missed you, too!” Kenni wheazed out, because her voice simply did not allow her to speak louder and simultaneously Eliana was squeezing her so tight that it was hard for her to breathe. 

Kenni and Eliana couldn’t have been hugging for more than five seconds when Kenni felt a hand on her shoulder, pulling her away from her godsister’s familiar embrace. 

Rather confused, she looked up to see her father looking down at her sternly before looking around to check that no one witnessed their reunion. 

“Remember what I said,” He warned without even looking at Kenni. 

Kenni’s heart sank. “Right.” 

Chevalier’s gaze flicked to his daughter. Seeing her down expression he sighed. “I’m not saying not ever. I’m just saying be careful. Here is dangerous. But…” He trailed off, hoping Kenni would catch what he was getting at. 

Kenni, somehow, did understand. She nodded. She looked back to Eliana. “Wait til we get on the train.” She said quietly.

Eliana nodded before turning to go back to her parents. She gave her friend one last look before walking all the way to Steven and Camila. 

Kenni followed the girl with her eyes and continued to travel past Eliana until they came into contact with Steven. Steven gave her a wide grin. He went to wave but his hand was caught by Camila who barely shook her head at him. Steven’s face fell slightly, but he looked back to Kenni with a small smile. Kenni returned the smile and looked over to Camila who’s expression mirrored her husband’s. 

Chevalier nudged his daughter’s shoulder, telling her it’s time to keep moving. He helped her bring Vega and her trunk to where everyone else’s was left. There, a wizard was at the end. He looked from the truck, studying it hard, to Kenni who he examined with equal intensity. Then, he nodded once at her and turned to the next person walking up. 

Kenni and Chevalier walked forward to where all students were getting on the train. Kenni stopped suddenly. Her anxiety and stress overwhelmed her for a moment. Chevalier, whose hand was still on her shoulder, stopped as well. He gave her shoulder a slight squeeze as if to reassure her that everything will be alright. Kenni’s gaze flicked from the door, up to her father. 

Chevalier gave her the most encouraging smile he could muster. He crouched down in front of her. 

“It’ll be alright. You’re strong. You’re smart. You’re careful. Remember those three facts about yourself, and nothing will go wrong.” 

Kenni began to relax at her father’s words. She gave him a little nod before wrapping her arms around his neck. Like when she hugged him before, he was rather surprised at the contact. He took a moment before wrapping his arms around her in return. Kenni pulled away with a smile. 

“Bye, dad,” She looked more sure than she had the first time. Confidence began to ooze from her being as she repeated in her head “I am strong, I am smart, I am careful”. 

Chevalier gave her a kind smile, “Goodbye, Kenni,” 

With her father’s last words, she nodded at him before marching towards the Hogwarts Express, not hesitating or stopping for fear that if she did all of the anxiety and uncertainty would catch up to her. 

The train was busy. There were kids everywhere, talking and chattering. She slowly began to walk down the crowded aisle. She tried not to touch people as she walked by, which proved to be a difficult feat considering people seemed to have absolutely no spatial awareness. 

Kenni had made it through about three different train cars before she felt someone grab her arm and yank her into a train car. Kenni’s heart began to race at an alarming pace as she felt arms wrap around her torso, restricting her. The initial panic of being violently seized wore off when she, for the second time that day, caught a whiff of cherries and peaches. 

“ELIANA PYPER, NEVER DO THAT AGAIN!” Kenni shouted while returning the hug.   
“Sorry,” the girl pulled away, unapologetically beaming. “It’s just been too long since I’ve seen you!” 

Kenni frowned. “I know.” She then remembered that she was supposed to be mad at the girl. “But still! You nearly gave me a heart attack!”

Eliana waved her hand dismissively at her best friend. “Oh, please. You’re just being dramatic.” 

“Oh, you’re Kenni.” 

Kenni jumped, now alerted to the fact that it was not just El and herself in this car. Turning towards the source of the voice, she discovered a familiar blonde. 

“You’re the girl from the platform this morning!” Kenni exclaimed, excited to have found more than one person she was acquainted with. 

The girl beamed. “You remembered!” She extended one of her hands to Kenni. “I’m Mara. Mara Ellis.” 

Kenni took her hand and gave it a polite shake. “Kennilworthy R-Rowle. But most just call me Kenni.” 

She caught herself just before she said “Switch”, remembering her father’s warning that no one could know. 

Mara appeared oblivious to Kenni’s hesitation and simply continued to grin. Kenni went to sit down across from Mara. As soon as her rear came in contact with what she assumed was the seat, a loud yowl echoed throughout the compartment, causing Kenni to jump to her feet. Spinning quickly, she found that her spot had already been occupied. 

“Flower!” The girl joyously expressed as she scooped up the monochrome, overweight feline. The cat looked around with the most unamused expression a cat could muster (most likely due to the fact that he just had Kenni’s derriere on his back) as Kenni brought him into a tight hug.

“I’ve missed you too, you lazy bum!” She squealed with mirth. 

Flower ignored the girl’s affection entirely, punctuating his pooh-pooh attitude with a yawn before leaping out of her arms and into Eliana’s lap to curl up and go back to sleep. 

Kenni plopped down on the now open bench, completely content. Her anxiety far from her mind as the train began to move. 

The three of them talked, quite content, for about an hour. They talked about which houses they think they’ll get into and their families. Eliana gave Kenni a look of confusion when Kenni told Mara the story her father had ingrained into her memory. 

“Remember, Kenni,” She could practically hear his voice as she spoke. “If anyone asks, your mother and father died years ago due to an unfortunate circumstance. The muggle police were the first to find you and they quickly put you into the muggle foster system. I discovered you after my wife’s passing and decided, in her honor, to take you in. That is what you tell them. Nothing more, and nothing less. If they press, simply say that you do not wish to discuss it.” 

Eliana’s expression faded as the story went on, evidently recalling how Chevalier had emphasized the danger Kenni was in while at the Pyper residence. 

Kenni learned that Mara was rather blunt. She delivered all information in a straightforward, yet amusing way. She explained how her mother was a witch and her father a muggle. Upon finding out about her mother’s magical abilities, her father promptly left, divorcing her and not coming back. Mara shrugged indifferently while explaining.

“I was just 4 at the time. Daniel remembers more. He’s my brother. He’s in his third year here. He’s a Gryffindor. That’s where I hope to be.” She puffed her chest proudly. 

“So,” Mara smiled, laying down along the bench, kicking her feet up in a careless way. “How long have you two known each other?”

Kenni’s eyes went wide, anxiety returning. She didn’t know how much Steven and Camila told El about her situation. What she did know was that regardless of what she did or did not know, El was a very trusting person. Kenni felt panic begin to rise as Eliana began to speak, knowing that it wouldn’t take much for her to disclose all that Kenni had been told to keep secret. 

“Well, we’ve--” Eliana’s explanation was interrupted (much to Kenni’s relief) by the compartment door opening and three boys quickly and loudly rushing in. They slammed the door behind them, locking it, and drawing the shades before collapsing onto the benches. 

Kenni recognized two of them as the boys from Flourish and Blotts. She squinted her eyes at the third, but there wasn’t a spark of recognition. 

The bespeckled boy with wild brown hair (who Kenni recalled being named James) had one arm on his stomach and the other leaning against the door frame as loud, arrogant laughter caused his body to shake. The other boy from Flourish and Blotts--the one who had occupied her thoughts quite often since their meeting--the one with dark features and striking grey eyes quickly collapsed onto the bench next to Kenni, laughing with equal amount of amusement. 

The third boy, the one who Kenni had never seen before, stood with an amused smile on his face. He was rather lanky and awkward in form. He had thin, yet wild auburn hair that one hand explored. His eyes were deep blue and heavy, showing signs of exhaustion despite their mischievous twinkle. All of these things, however, seemed insignificant once one noticed the rest of him. He had deep scars all on his face. One went from under his left eye, across his nose, to his right cheek. Another ran across his left cheekbone, ending just before his nose. The third ran from the bottom of his lip to under his chin. They were white, yet indented, showing that they were not new scars. These scars were the result of some horrible situation years prior. 

This third boy was the first to take notice of the three girls in that compartment. 

“Um… Hello…” The scarred boy began in a polite yet slightly awkward fashion. 

“What?” James questioned, looking to the taller boy, still grinning. At that moment he caught sight of Kenni, Mara, and Eliana. “Oh! Right. Hello. Er… I guess this is not our compartment…” 

Sirius, upon his friend addressing them, looked to each of the girls individually. He started with Mara, went around the room and ended with Kenni. His eyes flickered with recognition then squinted with suspicion as if unable to precisely pinpoint where he knows her from. 

“Hello, Sirius,” Kenni nodded to him. “James,” She nodded to him. 

James raised an eyebrow to her and inclined his head in acknowledgement, “Hullo. I’m sorry, but I’m afraid I don’t know who you are,”

The corners of Kenni’s mouth inched up slightly. “I’m afraid I never got to introduce myself.” 

Sirius’s eyes widened with recognition and a smile lit up his face. “HAH! I remember you! You’re the girl I hit in the nose at Flourish and Blotts!”

James’s face soon lit up with the same amusement. “Hah! Nose alright?” 

Kenni’s brow arched in a lofty fashion yet the smirk she wore remained, informing James of her subtle amusement. 

The third boy turned to Sirius with a look of shocked rapprochement. 

“You hit her in the face!?” 

James clapped the scarred boy on the shoulder, “Relax, Remus. He didn’t clock her himself. He simply pushed a book off the shelf and it was what did the clocking.” 

Sirius rolled his eyes, “It wasn’t my intention to hit her. It just happened as a result of my incredible jumping skills.” 

“So incredible that you overshot it and injured this poor girl.” 

“Well, it got us to meet her, didn’t it?” Sirius’s amusement never left his face. “I got the book--”

“Which she kept,” James added. 

“--it got us to meet her, and I showcased my incredible leaping abilities.” Sirius went on, ignoring James before kicking his feet up on the seat across from him and putting his arms behind his head. “I think it’s fair to say everybody won.” 

“I’d say I won the most. I got a lovely bruise that lasted two weeks. It was the deepest shade of purple I’ve ever seen.” Kenni quietly added, her expression unchanging. 

Sirius studied her out of the corner of his eye, his chin angled in her direction. “No hard feelings, yeah?” 

Kenni simply smiled. “The only hard feeling was that book falling on my nose.”

“Oh! Burn!” Mara exclaimed. 

“More like ‘oh, ouch’” Remus muttered. 

Sirius looked over at him, “Whose side are you on?” 

Remus smirked. “The victim’s,” 

“Well aren’t you just a saint.” 

“Glad you noticed.” 

“Shut up, Lupin,”

“Ladies, ladies, please,” James began, tapping them both on the shoulders. 

“Who you callin ‘lady’, Potter?” 

“Oh, my apologies. The long hair deceived me.” James bowed dramatically. 

“Oi! I’ll have you know…” the sound of Sirius’s voice faded in Kenni’s ears as Eliana leaned over to her. 

“They’re quite rowdy, aren’t they?” 

Kenni nodded with a smirk. “Quite.” 

Eliana gave Kenni a strange look. “Did you really have a bruise for two weeks?”

Kenni simply winked at her. 

The boy’s banter carried on. Soon enough, there was a knock at the door. James pulled back the shades just slightly to inspect who it was before sighing. 

“It’s just a prefect.” 

He retracted the shades, unlocked the door, and then opened it. 

“What can we do ya for, madame?” James grinned. 

The girl simply gave him an unamused expression. “I’m making sure you know to change into your robes. We’ll be arriving soon.”

She began to walk off before turning to face them again, “And you’re not allowed to have the shades down and doors locked.” Appearing satisfied with her reprimanding, she nodded curtly before spinning on her heel and walking off. 

James closed the door as Sirius rolled his eyes. 

“What’s the point in having shades if you’re not allowed to draw them?” 

“What’s a prefect?” Remus spoke up, ignoring their comments. 

“A prefect,” Mara spoke up, “Is a student, chosen by the head of house, who keeps everyone in line. Daniel says there a pain.” 

“Well, she said we’d be arriving soon,” Eliana nodded. “And that we better change. And I’m not changing with you three in here.” 

“Of course.” Remus quipped as James opened his mouth, cutting off whatever the wild-haired boy had to say. “We better be heading back to our car anyways. Was a pleasure meeting all of you, though.”

He gave the three girls a kind smile. 

“Indeed,” Sirius agreed, standing before he turned to Kenni and giving her a wink. “And it was charming to see you again, dear… er…” He frowned. “I don’t believe I ever caught your names.” 

Kenni gave him the smallest smile. “I’m Kenni Rowle. This is Eliana Pyper and Mara Ellis.” 

Sirius’s frown seemed to increase as he heard Kenni’s last name. “I didn’t know Chevalier Rowle had a daughter.” 

Kenni’s heart rate increased as it usually did when the subject of her family was brought up. “I’m adopted.” She said simply, hoping she did not give away her anxiety.

James shrugged and grinned before bowing dramatically. He picked up Kenni’s hand and delivered a kiss to the back of it. “Well, Miss Rowle, it’s been lovely to see your beautiful face again. However, as dear Remus here said, it’s time for us to go.” 

He stood straight again, sending a wink Eliana’s way and giving Mara a grin. 

“Until we meet again.” He dramatically stated. “Come along, Sirius! Our robes await!” 

Sirius’s troubled expression remained. He gave the girls a curt nod before following James. Remus stood outside the door, rolling his eyes as they passed. He gave the girls one last kind smile before he closed the door behind him and left in the same direction as his two friends. 

“Well, that was odd.” Mara stated.


	7. FOUR

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which young Witches and Wizards get sorted.

After the strange boys left their compartment, Kenni, Mara, and Eliana got changed into their robes and excitedly awaited to exit the train. Once they arrived at Hogwarts, Kenni looked out the window and her jaw dropped. 

Before this moment, she had absolutely no expectectation on what her future school would look like. However, upon arriving, she discovered that any idea that she might’ve had would have never amounted to the true magnificents that is Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The castle itself was beautiful. It had large towers and its very walls seemed to glow. The bulk of it seemed large enough to easily carry Rowle Mansion within it ten times over. 

She stepped off the train and stood in awe of the castle. Although, she couldn’t ogle at it for long for she was shoved out of the way by a boy with long, white hair who gave her a leering stare. He seemed to be a year older than her and bore the most chilling blue eyes Kenni had ever seen. They seemed to be made out of ice itself and shot icicles into her heart the longer she looked. 

“It’s rude to stare.” He snapped at her. Kenni’s eyes remained wide and she nodded once. 

“Kenni!”

The girl in question turned quickly to see Eliana and Mara standing a bit away and gesturing for her to come towards them. With a quick glance at the cold boy, she walked quickly towards her friends. 

“What were you doing over there?” Mara asked.

Kenni exhaled sharply. “That boy over there pushed me.” 

“Well that’s rude.” Eliana stated, absolutely irked that someone had the audacity to shove her best friend. 

Kenni wasn’t given a chance to respond because a very, very tall man with a short, scruffy beard called above the din of the crowd. He didn’t look very old, however the intimidation he lacked in years was made up for by his sheer mass. He was broader than a bus, Kenni thought, and far taller than any man she could think to use as a comparison. 

“FIRST YEARS! THIS WAY! FOLLOW ME!” He hollered, waving one hand above his head and holding a lamp in the other. 

Kenni, Mara, and Eliana hesitantly made their way towards the man. They were quickly joined by their fellow first years, including Remus, James, and Sirius. The latter of which locked eyes with Kenni and donned the same frown he wore when exiting their compartment. Kenni wasn’t allotted much time to mull over the boys sudden change in expression, for the large man that towered above them all began to speak again. 

“Aight. This the lot of ya?” He grunted, “Aight then. My name is Hagrid. Rubeus Hagrid. I’m the groundskeeper here at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry: the finest wizardin’ school ya ever had the opportunity of attendin’.” Hagrid puffed his chest proudly. 

“Now, you lot will be goin’ over to the school in a different way than most, bein’ first years an’ all. See those boats over yonder?” He gestured to his right, causing most of the kids to crane their necks to look over. Kenni just then noticed that the castle was surrounded by a large lake. 

“Now, in groups of four, you will go down to those boats and sit. As soon as yer all set, the boats’ll take off. There’ll be no need for rowin’ and such, cuz they’re magic.” He nodded. 

The kids began to mutter amongst themselves.

“Once you reach the end, ya’ll get off them boats and go on up to the castle where Professor McGonagall will meet ya.” He looked over all the tiny first years before him and no one moved as if they were awaiting further instruction. “Well, get goin!” 

The kids began to wander down in a steady mass. Once they reached the boats, they organized themselves in groups of four. Once the boats were filled with four, they gave a light zap to anyone else who attempted to board. 

Kenni, Mara, and Eliana quickly boarded a boat. They were joined by a rather petite, ginger girl who looked around at them meekly. 

“Hullo,” She uttered, “I’m Lily.” 

Eliana beamed, “Hullo, Lily! I’m Eliana! This is Mara and Kenni!” 

Due to the blond girl’s kindly introduction, Lily immediately looked more at ease and returned the smile. “It’s a pleasure.” 

The boats began to move and the girls excitedly chittered about Hogwarts. They discovered that Lily was a muggleborn. Kenni, during the duration of the ride, simply observed her surroundings and tuned out the conversation. 

She noticed how there were areas on the lake that seemed to have something disturbing it’s placidness from beneath the surface. However, the more she examined it, she discovered that it was too dark to make out what it actually was. 

Moving on, she observed the kids in the boats next to her. Nearly everyone seemed to share roughly the same emotions: nervousness, excitement, awe, anxiousness, and restlessness. The last of these emotions heavily applied to the boat next to Kenni which held Remus, James, Sirius, and one more, somewhat chubby boy. James and Sirius seemed to be having a fun time of rocking the boat while the small boy held onto the sides for dear life. Remus held onto the sides much like the other boy, although he maintained a slight smile on his face. 

“Kenni?” 

“Hm?” She hummed as she was brought back to the girls in her boat who were standing on the shore, looking at Kenni who was still seated. “Oh! Right,”

She somewhat awkwardly got out of the boat and hobbled on up the long, narrow, stoney staircase. They never seemed to run out of things to say as the first years trudged along. However, Kenni couldn’t seem to form a coherent thought. Her anxiety picked up the moment she walked within the actual building. Thoughts bounced around her head at a million miles a minute. 

She mindlessly knocked on her wrist as the entire group came to a stop in front of a tall, stiff-lipped woman. Her hair was pulled into a tight bun. She seemed pretty enough and stood with a sense of prideful strength. Although everyone quieted down almost immediately once the woman walked towards them, Kenni almost didn’t hear her over her own thoughts. 

“Good evening,” She peered at the students over her spectacles. “My name is Professor McGonagal. I am the head of the Gryffindor House here at Hogwarts. In just a few moments, I will escort you past these doors. We will walk down the center aisle of the Great hall and come to a stop in front of the room. You will stand there quietly until I call your name. I will gesture you to sit on the stool and I will place the sorting hat on your head. It will call your chosen house and then you will sit with whichever it specified. The houses, if you are not already familiar, are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Once sorted into a house, there is no changing. That house will be like your family. After the sorting is finished, the headmaster will give a few words and you all shall begin your feast. Once the feast is completed, the prefects will guide you to your house dorms where you will find all of your belongings currently residing. Are there any questions?” 

One hand was seen raised in the back. McGonagall peered over all the students to the raised hand. “Yes?” 

“Where’s the loo?” Sirius Black’s voice reached Kenni’s ears. 

“Yeah,” James Potter agreed. “And what’s for dinner?” 

The group of first years chuckled. 

Professor McGonagall raised an eyebrow in an unamused expression. “Well, Mr. Black, the boys lavatory is down this hall and to your left. The girl’s is the same, but to your right.”  
The boy’s smirk emained if not grew when she said his name. Kenni even thought she saw him send a wink to the older woman. 

“And Mr. Potter,” McGonagall turned her head slightly to address the other boy who spoke up. “We shall be having a full sunday roast, shepherd's pie, and a caesar salad for our vegetarian and vegan residents.”

James’s smirk faded to an expression of surprise as the woman before him addressed him by name, obviously shocked that she knew who he was. 

“Any other questions?” The Professor spoke up. “Right. Now if you would follow me, please.” 

Kenni began to walk with the crowd as her panicked mind thought of everything that could go wrong from this moment onward. She resumed the knocking on her wrist and let her thoughts spiral. What if she was sorted into the wrong house? What if they call her name and they say her name as “Switch” not “Rowle”? What if she tripped? What if she fell off the stool? What if she sneezes? What if they find out that she’s actually NOT a pureblood and they escort her out? What if--

“Hey, you okay?” Eliana voiced.

Her thoughts, for the fourth time that night, came to a screeching halt. 

“I’m fine,” Kenni shrugged her off. 

Eliana didn’t buy it. “You’re doing the thing you do when something’s really bothering you. What’s wrong?” 

“I said, ‘I’m fine’!” Kenni snapped. 

Eliana’s eyes widened. “Okay, okay. Sorry.” 

Kenni felt bad for snapping at her best friend. She knew she was only trying to help, but the last thing she needed was to speak her thoughts out loud. It was like the moment she did that, the moment her fears were solidified. But she wasn’t able to mull on her guilt for long because all negative thoughts were put on hold when she saw a brown, rather dusty, old hat propped up on a stool that stood in front of the room. Kenni’s confusion grew as she recalled the Professor saying that the hat would be the one to sort her.

McGonagall gestured for the students to stop walking and she walked up to the hat. She picked it up by its tip and Kenni saw the wrinkles and folds of its side morph into a rather expressive face. Kenni’s surprise multiplied incredibly as that hat began to sing. 

“Floppy yet to the point,  
you will find me,  
Who once sat upon the brow,  
Of he who valued bravery. 

“He cast a little spell,  
and here I now stand,  
Putting you where you’ll do well.  
I’m the best sorter in all the land! 

“For I am the Hogwarts Sorting Hat!  
I will put you in your place.  
My mind is sharp, and my words are art,  
So let’s cut to the chase. 

“Four houses of equal value,  
resides within these walls.  
Four houses of different character,  
walk amongst these halls. 

“You could be a Gryffindor,  
Who value courage and chivalry.  
With a lion’s heart and a mighty roar,  
Brave you yourself may be.

“You could reside in Ravenclaw,  
Where wit and wisdom soars.  
Amongst the sky creative minds fly,  
With a knowledgeable thirst for more.

“Or Hufflepuff badgers could be your kin.  
With the kind and loyal and true,  
Living along such great finders,  
Might be the path for you.

“Or you may find yourself in Slytherin,  
Where the cunning and resourceful reside.  
With great ambition they set their goals  
These snakes aren’t ones to hide.

“Yes, however different these houses may be,  
They make Hogwarts complete.  
To be sorted into any of them,  
Is a rather incredible feat.

“I will not cause you harm, I swear,  
So come and try me on.  
For I will place you where,  
You truly do belong.”

With that, the hall, which was filled with students, was filled with applause. Kenni was brought from her state of shock and confusion and began to look around at all the students. There were four tables. 

The one on her far left was filled with students donning green robes. There was a banner above their table which stated “Slytherin” in floating letters. It also had a snake that coiled and uncoiled itself, occasionally hissing at the people beneath it for waking it. The Slytherins there applauded politely.

The one that was closer to her on her left wore blue robes. The banner that hung from seemingly nothing had a royal blue color with the word “Ravenclaw” dancing about. There was an eagle that sat upon a branch rather proudly. It contributed to the applause by letting out a feeble caw, whereas the students ranged between uproarious applause and a conservative golf clap. 

Looking to her right, she found boys and girls in yellow robes to be seated. Above them, a yellow banner hung, reading “Hufflepuff”. A badger pranced, happily about on it before sitting down, much like a human. Its hind legs spread out to the sides of it as it looked down on everyone sitting beneath it. The Hufflepuffs below all wore bright smiles. They applauded in a way that didn’t quite draw attention to themselves, yet got their great enthusiasm across in a respectfully emphatic way. 

The final table emanated the most noise. Those who sat there were wearing red and gold robes. Above them waved a red and yellow banner where a lion roared and paced back and forth. Beneath the proud king of beasts stood the word “Gryffindor” in bold letters. The students were, in a word, rowdy. They whooped and hollered and cheered in a boastful, yet apt way given the circumstance. 

“Now,” McGonagall’s voice called above the brouhaha. “The sorting shall begin!” 

The professor pulled a scroll from her sleeve and unrolled it, letting it flow down the steps before her. She cleared her throat and began, 

“Aaronson, Jamie,” She called out.

A short boy with sandy blonde hair walked forward. McGonagall smiled politely and inclined her head towards the stool. Jamie walked forward and sat down. He looked visibly nervous as the Gryffindor head of house lowered the hat to his head.

The hat did not pass his brow for more than a second before it called out, “HUFFLEPUFF!”

The boy seemed to visibly relax as he made his way over to the Hufflepuff table that was, once again, in ridiculous applause. 

“Abram, Scott,” McGonagall called out again. 

This time, a boy with mahogany tinted skin and dark hair made his way towards the stool. When McGonagall placed the hat upon Scott’s brow, it took a bit longer to decide. 

After about five seconds of shifting and adjusting his facial expression, the hat called out, “RAVENCLAW!” 

Scott walked towards the Ravenclaw table as people patted him on the back. 

“Acker, Sarah,” 

Kenni now zoned out. Her anxiety picked back up again and she knocked on her wrist so hard, that the makings of a bruise began to form. Mara and Eliana seemed to be in their own world as they stood in front of Kenni and excitedly whispered to one another. The only one who seemed to notice Kenni’s distress was Remus Lupin who happened to be standing next to her. 

Remus nudged her gently, accidentally startling and causing the girl to jump. He looked at her with his brow furrowed. 

“You’re going to give yourself a nasty bruise if you keep doing that.” Remus observed. 

Kenni looked at her wrist that she had mindlessly been knocking on and shrugged. “I can deal with a bruise,” 

She didn’t take up knocking again, though. Instead, she resorted to tensing and relaxing her fists, anxiety written so plainly across her face.

“Hey,” Remus nudged her again. He reached within his robes and brought out a bar of chocolate. “I get anxious a lot, too. My mum was a nurse and she told me that she would give her anxious and stressed patients chocolate whenever they were upset.” 

Remus broke off a piece of his chocolate bar. “Here,” He offered the piece to her, the scar on his chin twisting as he gave her a smile, too. “It helps, believe it or not.” 

Kenni hesitantly looked between the bar and the boy before reaching out with shaking hands and taking it. 

“Thank you,” She muttered before taking a small nibble. Upon feeling instantly more relaxed, she decided to indulge herself in another bite. 

Remus’s smile grew as he saw the girl relax.

“Of course,” he beamed. 

Upon rudely listening in on Remus and Kenni’s conversation, James threw an arm around the girl. 

“Hey, relax, Rowle. No stress. Ya just walk up there, sit, the hat calls one of four names, and ya go join ‘em. Nothin’ to be worried about.” He beamed. 

“Black, Sirius,” McGonagall called, relieving Kenni of trying to concoct a polite reply to James’s poor comforting skills. The three of them turned their attention to the boy who pushed past James slightly. James offered him an encouraging pat on the back before Sirius walked up. 

Sirius strutted to the stool. He sat lazily, his body appearing relaxed. Although, as the hat approached his head, Kenni noticed his eyes flicker with what seemed like fear. His body remained at ease as the pace of breathing slightly increased.

The hat took a while to decide. The longer he waited, the more tension filled the young boy’s figure. He appeared to be arguing with the hat over something. At long last, after about a full minute, the hat called out in a strong voice, 

“GRYFFINDOR!” 

McGonagall had to snatch the hat off of his head as the boy abruptly stood, beaming. He made his way over to the Gryffindor table with a sense of cool swagger in his step. 

Remus chuckled and shook his head, “I’m not sure what took that hat so long. I’ve never met a boy so well fitting for Gryffindor.” 

Kenni nodded, “I suppose so.” 

The list went on, and Kenni was just about to get lost within her own thoughts again when McGonagall read, 

“Ellis, Mara,” 

Kenni looked up sharply as her new friend looked from Eliana to Kenni behind her and gave them a thumbs up before walking up to the stool. She plopped herself down on it and McGonagall lowered the hat to her head.

The brim of the hat barely passed the top of Mara’s head when it shouted, 

“GRYFFINDOR!” 

Mara paustively beamed as she ran over to the Gryffindor table. She was greeted by the older boy that Kenni remembered seeing on the platform. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and ruffled her hair as his sister sat down next to him. 

Kenni zoned back out as the list continued. She was still anxious, however much less so because whenever she felt her anxiety begin to spike again, she looked over to Remus and he gave her an encouraging smile or a slight joke about the last person sorted that caused her to be filled with ease. 

The next moment Kenni began to pay attention was when Remus’s name was called. 

She looked slightly fearfully from the hat and stool to her new support friend. Remus smiled at her encouragingly before walking up to the stool. The moment he turned to sit down, Kenni saw the nerves that were so plainly displayed on his face. She felt bad instantly for not thinking that he could very well be nervous, too. 

The hat was placed on his head and took less than 3 seconds to announce, 

“GRYFFINDOR!”

Remus beamed and made his way over to the Gryffindor table. He plopped himself down next to Sirius and across from Mara both of who enthusiastically cheered for their friend. Kenni smiled at them. Remus turned to catch Kenni’s gaze and gave her an encouraging grin.

The next thing Kenni knew, James’s name was called. He removed his arm from around her shoulders and whispered,

“Wish me luck,” Adding a wink for emphasis. 

He strutted almost exactly like Sirius, however his strut seemed somewhat forced. He sat stiffly on the stool and the hat was placed on his head. It didn’t take very long with him, either, as it shouted “GRYFFINDOR!” much like his other friends. 

James let out a loud whoop and practically pranced over to the Gryffindor table and sat on the other side of Sirius. All of the people who were acquainted with him gave him encouraging pats on the back. 

There were two more names called before Eliana’s and Kenni was left alone. 

Eliana walked up to the stool and sat down, looking as beautiful as always. The sorting hat took a few minutes to decide. Eliana’s strong yet relaxed composure never feigned. After an endless 3 minutes, the hat startled nearly everyone in the hall by shouting, 

“HUFFLEPUFF!”

She beamed before walking over to the table with the kind badger staring down. She looked over to the Gryffindor table where Mara gave her a great big thumbs up. 

Kenni’s anxiety increased again as she was left alone, waiting for her name to be called. She commenced knocking on her wrist and waited to hear her name. 

Finally, after what seemed like years and years to her, McGonagall called out, 

“Rowle, Kennilworthy!” 

Kenni stopped rapping on her wrist and took a very shaky, deep breath before walking forward. Her knees felt like feeble twigs as she stepped. The stool suddenly seemed miles upon miles away. Her feet felt like they were made of cement as she continued to trek forward. As she reached the base of the steps, she closed her eyes, took another, much less shaky, deep breath before sticking her chin in the air and walking towards the hat. 

She sat down on the stool, trying to appear as composed and as strong as possible. She looked straight in front of her as her view became hidden behind the floppy edge of the hat. The sorting hat weighed more than Kenni had envisioned. She felt it begin to move and she jumped slightly as a deep hum filled her ear. 

“Quite an interesting person, you are, Miss Switch.” Kenni tensed and gasped quietly at the use of her real name. “Yes, a lot of secrets. A lot of strength, as well. Hmm. Quite wise, quite wise, indeed. Intense loyalty I see as well. Yes, yes. You are a quite interesting person.” The hat hummed. 

“Courage does seem to stand out to me quite prominently, yes, yes, indeed. However, Miss Switch, you are rather cunning as well. Yes, and quite ambitious. I don’t think there is an inherently cruel bone in your body, hmmm. Hmm, hmm, hmm. I think I might’ve figured it out. I think it’ll be…

“SLYTHERIN!” The hat’s voice echoed throughout the hall. Kenni looked over to the Gryffindor table where Remus gave her a small smile and applauded her. He gestured with his head to the Slytherin table. Kenni nodded a little and her eyes flicked to Sirius who scowled deeply. 

She then sighed sharply and walked briskly over to the Slytherin table, her chin held high. She sits down then her gaze looks forward, locking eyes with Eliana who beams at her. Kenni can’t help but crack the smallest smile before looking around to those at her table. All Kenni receives are polite nods before each of them turn back to the sorting that is still taking place.

Kenni sighs and decides to listen to the last bit of the sorting. 

It goes by relatively quickly and before she knows it, the Sorting Hat was brought to the side and up walked a rather old man with a beard that went down to about the middle of his chest. 

“Before we begin, I would like to say a few words, and those are gobbledygook, pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis, and Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia.” 

“Mad, that Dumbledor is. I swear, Ross, he gets more and more bonkers every year.” Kenni heard a girl next to her say to a dark haired boy across from her. The boy chuckled. 

“Easy, Rowan, that’s our headmaster you’re talking about,” The boy scolded, sarcastically.

“Now that those words are in your minds to ponder,” Dumbledor went on, “I need to remind you that the forbidden forest is, as the name states, forbidden. And only those who wish to suffer at the hands of our caretaker, Mr. Filch, should be found exploring the corridors past curfew.” The mysterious smile and mischievous glint in his eye never seemed to leave all while talking. “Now, without boring you further, I say let the feast begin!” 

With a wave of his hand, the tables were filled with food. Kenni gaped at the rows of abundant food before indulging herself. She ate as much as she allowed herself while being self conscious and hyper aware of the people around her. 

Kenni was thrown for a further loop when a rather bloody looking ghost floated above their table, slashing his sword through a few of the student’s heads. Kenni’s eyes widened, however she didn’t say anything. For the remainder of the meal, she sat and ate in silence, that is, until Dumbledor got up in front of everyone for the second time. 

“Now that we are stuffed like proper turkeys before Christmas feast, it is time for us all to head to our dormitories. If the prefects would be so kind as to lead the first years to their respective rooms, I would be much obliged. I bid you all goodnight and do wish you not to get bitten by any sort of bug that may reside in your beds.”

Kenni looked at the man with a strange expression, quite unsure how to perceive. 

“Alright, duty calls.” The dark haired boy called Ross wiped his mouth before standing. 

“Good luck,” The girl who had been called Rowan sarcastically snorted. 

“I’m going to need it.” Ross’s eyes widened in an exaggerated way. 

“ALRIGHT! FIRST YEAR SLYTHERINS! FOLLOW ME!” He shouted. It was then that Kenni noticed the shiny badge that was pinned to the front of his robes. She did as he said and stood, quietly. She looked over one last time in the direction of the Gryffindor table as her anxiety spiked. She didn’t see Remus or any of the other people she met that day. When she then looked to where Eliana was, she only saw the back of the blonde girl’s head. 

Sighing softly, she followed Ross along with the other first year Slytherins

On her journey to wherever Ross was leading them, Kenni saw the uncountable amount of moving portraits that lined the halls. She couldn’t help but smile at a few of them as some of them showed off by doing various tricks. 

They walked along the entrance hall and came to a blank wall near the front door. Ross looked around before turning to the first years. 

“This is a Slytherin secret. If word gets out, I will personally find who spilt the secret and hex you into the next century, do I make myself clear?” He glowered at the 11 year olds before him. 

They all nodded their heads rapidly before he stood up straight. “Good.” 

He knocked on the wall three times then paused and knocked once. The wall then quickly slid open revealing a number of twisting staircases. 

“Alright, keep up.” Ross called out. 

He wound up leading them down many levels of stairs, warning them about their shiftiness. Kenni found herself pondering what he could possibly have meant until she nearly fell due to the stair moving from under her. She was walking down a flight of stairs, trailing in the back. As she was about to step from the landing where she stood to the top step, the case decided to change. Her foot completely missed the top step and she just managed to catch herself on its moving railing and support herself with her other leg. Her heart felt as though it was in her throat as she looked down behind her, seeing the great drop that was there. 

“Be sure to watch yourself, yeah?” Ross called back to her. 

She exhaled sharply in an attempt to calm her rapidly beating heart. “Thanks for the warning,” She called back.

Ross smirked before continuing on. Kenni straightened the front of her shirt before following. 

At long last, they came to their destination. Another blank wall. 

Ross stopped in front of it. “Salazar,” He stated. 

With that, the wall opened, revealing a great room. There was a large fireplace and a few tables which held students from various years. Around the fireplace was a set of plush, grey couches and seats. The walls were painted black and every few feet or so, there were giant windows.

At first glance, Kenni thought these windows were tinted green, that was until she realized that they were not, in fact, tinted themselves, but the water that laid on the other side was what gave them their greenish appearance. Kenni’s eyes widened when she realized. 

“Now, before I get questioned about it, yes. We really are underwater. And yes, that is the black lake. No, you cannot break the glass. Anyone who tries will be hexed by the glass and the unlucky individual will find their least favorite physical trait enlarged five times its normal size. So I advise against trying. Girls, your dormitories are to your left and down those stairs. Boys, yours are to the right and down the stairs. There is a curse on the girls stairs that is triggered by any boy who attempts to go down them. Boys, if you try, that stone mermaid that sits above the doorway will come alive and poke you with her spear. She has actually impaled people before, so, I seriously advise against testing the curse. Your stuff should be in your rooms already. Go on ahead to your dorms. If you have any other questions, I really don’t care. I'm too tired to answer them properly right now. I’m sure you can figure it out.” 

Ross waved his hand at them dismissively before collapsing onto a couch. Kenni looked at him as she walked by, before heading towards the girl’s dormitory. She eyed the mermaid that sat on the ledge of the protruding door frame. The mermaid caught kenni’s gaze and nodded politely. Kenni’s eyes widened and she awkwardly waved back. 

Exhaling sharply, again, she continued down the stairs. There were 7 different hallways that led to various rooms. However, a sign above the door frames that led to each hall specified which hallway belonged to which year. At about the middle of the hall, she found the sign that said, “First Years”. Walking down that hall, she was greeted with 5 separate rooms. On the doors of each room was yet another plaque that said the names of those who belonged to each room. 

At the end of the hall, Kenni found her name along with three others. The plaque read: 

“Kennilworthy Rowle, Morgan Greengrass, Cassandra Yaxley, and Regina Avery”

Taking a deep breath, Kenni pushed the door open. 

The room was very large. The wall on the opposite side of the door was completely made of glass and had a lovely view of the bottom of the lake. In each of the four corners of the room were full-sized, canopy beds. Each bed faced inward, and at the foot sat four trunks. Looking to her left, Kenni found a doorway leading to a rather large bathroom. 

Kenni found her trunk and bed to be the one in the left corner, between the wall to the bathroom and the glass wall.

“Hullo,” the girl whose bed was across from her own said to Kenni. She had long, dark, wavy brown hair that fell elegantly about her. “You must be Kennilworthy Rowle.” 

Kenni nodded once. “Kenni, actually,”

“We were all wondering about you,” A tanned skinned girl spoke up from the bed right next to the door, her head cocking. “Since none of us recall ol’ Chevalier Rowle having a daughter.” 

“I’m not biological, I’m adopted,” Kenni spoke just as she had rehearsed. 

“Oh? Well isn’t that interesting.” The third girl walked out from the bathrooms, drying her hands on a black towel. This girl had white hair that fell past her rear in elegant curls. 

“Ah, where are my manners?” The first girl spoke. She offered Kenni a kind smile. “I’m Regina Avery.”

“I’m Cassandra Yaxley.” The second girl introduced herself. 

The third girl stepped forward and gave Kenni a curt nod and a polite smile. “Morgan Greengrass.”

Kenni nodded in acknowledgement at each of them. 

“It’s a pleasure.” Kenni said. 

After a moment of awkward pause, Regina gestured for her to come in. “Well, don’t just stand there! Come get yourself settled! This is where you will be living for the next seven years!” 

Kenni walked in and walked over to her trunk.

The Cassandra (who Regina had taken to calling “Cas”), Morgan (who Regina called “Mo”), and Regina (who Cas had taken to calling “Gina”, in retaliation), chatted away. Kenni listened as she began to get ready for bed along with the other girls.

Kenni discovered that Regina was a twin and her brother was also in Slytherin. Kenni also discovered that all three girls were from pureblood homes. They all were previously acquainted because of pureblood parties and culture and such. 

Conversation soon drifted away from families and it fell to them discussing the fact that Sirius Black was not in Slytherin. 

“Walburga is NOT going to be pleased, I’ll tell you that much.” Regina scoffed. 

“Black’s gonna have it handed to him when he goes home and the thing is, I don’t pity him.” Cassandra grumbled

“Oh?” Morgan questioned, sending Cassandra a puzzled look as she brushed her hair. “Why not?” 

“Because he’s an arrogant, rebellious pig. Remember when he yelled at Walburga at the summer ball four years ago?” Cassandra asked. 

Morgan nodded then shrugged, “I guess you’re right.” 

Kenni decided this moment to join the conversation, “Sirius doesn’t like me too much and I‘m not exactly sure why.” 

“You’ve met him?” Regina questioned. 

Kenni nodded, “On the train,” 

Cassandra laughed without humor. “He probably doesn’t like you because you’re a ‘raging, biggoted pureblood who's never had an original thought in their life’.” She did air quotes. 

“No, no, you got it wrong. It’s,” Regina flipped her hair the way Sirius has it before doing an impression of his voice. Her face scrunched up with anger and she shouted, “YOU’RE ALL RAGING, BIGOTTED PUREBLOODS WHO’VE NEVER HAD ORIGINAL THOUGHTS IN THEIR LIVES!” She then dramatically walked into the bathroom.

Morgan laughed heartily and Cassandra gave a snicker. Even Kenni had to smile at Regina’s overdramatic display. 

“Yes, exactly like that!” Cassandra laughed. 

Regina came out from the bathroom and took a bow.

The rest of the night went on easily. Kenni felt slightly out of place, yet completely at ease with these girls. It was a rather strange sensation. Regina, as the night went on, seemed to be quite a spunky and rather rambunctious girl. Cassandra was rather stern, however, the more time she spent with Regina, the further she seemed to open up. Same goes for Morgan, Regina’s presence just seemed to cause the shy girl to slowly come out of her shell. Kenni enjoyed watching them goof around until one of the older girls came in and told them all to go to sleep while using some rather colorful adjectives. 

Kenni’s roommates seemed to fall asleep fairly quickly. Kenni, however, did not get very much sleep at all. Her anxiety began to work itself up again as she laid there for hours on end, chasing sleep. She thought of everything that could go wrong right now. She thought of how Eliana was in a different house and how Sirius hated her. She thought of how the next day was going to go, considering it was her first day with classes. 

Every possible situation seemed to eat at her until she couldn’t handle it anymore. Kenni crawled out of bed and opened her trunk. She got out the lamb stuffed animal that she kept in there out of embarrassment. She then quickly hopped back into bed and hugged it tightly. 

With her arms wrapped around her loyal, loving, and trusty stuffed animal, she found comfort rather quickly and it didn’t take long for her to drift off to sleep. 

Her last coherent thoughts were of Remus as he comforted her earlier that day. The memory of his gentle voice and kind smile soothing her anxious spirit into a dreamless sleep.


	8. FIVE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Kenni has dreams of her memories.

~ TWO YEARS LATER ~

Kenni’s dreams were filled with memories (as they often were). The first memory/dream was of her first days at Hogwarts. 

*~*

_ Kenni woke up the first day and was confronted with a wave of exhaustion due to her previous night of semi-insomnia. Cassandra and Morgan were hustling about, getting ready. Well, Cassandra was making a show of getting ready while Morgan politely got dressed, respecting the fact that their two roommates were still sleeping. However, Cassandra’s noise was enough to wake Regina up, who, quite loudly, protested being awake at “such an ungodly hour”, despite it only being 7:30.  _

_ Kenni laid in bed for a minute before deciding that being useless and laying there as she was was entirely futile. As she got up, she realized that her stuffed lamb was in her arms. She panicked and, when she was sure no one was looking, quickly hopped out of bed and shoved the lamb into her trunk.  _

_ Now quite awake from her small moment of hysteria, she got ready, only half paying attention to Regina and Cassandra’s mindless chatter. Before long, she stood, awkwardly, unsure of whether to wait with Cassandra and Morgan for Regina (who was still getting ready) or to leave. She decided to try and leave, but as she reached the door, Regina stopped her.  _

_ “Hey, Kenni, where ya goin?” _

_ Kenni stopped, her heart rate increasing as she began to think that her decision was the wrong one in a moment of self-conscious frenzy.  _

_ “Oh…” She began as anxiety coursed through her, afraid to tell them that she was afraid that they didn’t want to walk with her. “I was rather hungry, so I thought I might get a head start on breakfast.”  _

_ Morgan’s eyes squinted as she looked at Kenni, not buying the lie as Cassandra and Regina did.  _

_ Regina shrugged, “Alright. I mean I won’t be long, but if you’re really that hungry then just go on.”  _

_ “I’ll go with you,” Morgan spoke up, her chin lowered, but her eyes shining brightly as if she were an archaeologist on the verge of digging up the most interesting ancient ruins.  _

_ Kenni shrugged, appearing indifferent, despite the ever-increasing speed of her panicked heart.  _

_ The two girls said goodbye to their roommates and began the trek to the great hall. Kenni was hyper-aware of the fact that Morgan was scrutinizing her out of the corner of her eye.  _

_ They walked in silence, Kenni was unsure of what to say.  _

_ “Why are you so nervous?” Morgan finally spoke up, in a rather soft voice.  _

_ Kenni jumped at the sound of her voice. She whipped her head to face the girl. She opened her mouth, about to deny the girl’s claims before Morgan spoke up once more.  _

_ “You can’t deny it. You’re much too obvious. If you want the luxury of denial, you mustn't wear your emotions so plainly.” Morgan said curtly before looking forward.  _

_ Kenni felt mildly offended as her affront bubbled in her chest as she looked at Morgan with a strange look. _

_ Morgan quickly realized the tan girl next to her was staring at her with a look of pure indignation and her eyes went wide.  _

_ “Oh! No! I didn’t mean to offend you! I’m only saying this because I can tell how hard you tried to hide it back there! I didn’t want you to think it was working.” Her eyes widened further at her horrible justification, to Kenni’s amusement. _

_ “That’s not to say that you’re bad at hiding it! I only mean-- Godric, I’m making this worse. This is why I just keep quiet most of the time.” Morgan put her head in her hands to hide her embarrassment.  _

_ The hint of a smile that planted itself on Kenni’s face grew the more Morgan talked. Watching the poor girl dig herself into a hole was rather entertaining. Of course, Kenni also understood her good intentions. Kenni, of course, was an observer of sorts. Not as much as Morgan, perhaps, but an observer nonetheless.  _

_ She had watched Morgan Greengrass interact with the other girls last night and in the morning. Kenni noticed the look in Morgan’s eyes was different from the other girls. Cassandra always seemed to be sitting there like a predator trying to pinpoint its prey’s greatest weakness before going in for a calculated kill. She laughed and smiled but there was a hint of standoffish superiority about her that made Kenni very wary of the girl. Regina, on the other hand, was a slightly different case. She was more playful but in a regal way. She had this coy way about her that caused Kenni to believe that, despite her outward persona, Regina Avery was a dangerous person.  _

_ Yes, Morgan Greengrass was not like either of those girls. She was quiet but in a sort of meek way. However, her meekness did not make her appear small or insecure, she just seemed… silent. Which is what she was. She was a silent girl. Morgan Greengrass would sit in a proud way, her hair falling about her shoulders in a regal fashion. Her eyes did not hold the cunningness of Cassandra’s nor did they bear the coy danger of Regina’s. Morgan’s eyes held a silent mystery--the sort that was difficult to read, yet obviously held many secrets.  _

_ Kenni knew, simply from her eyes, that Morgan was not a threat, nor did she mean any ill will when she tried to inform Kenni on her bad acting.  _

_ Morgan did not see the growing smile on Kenni’s face as she fumbled over her words. She was so focused on her embarrassment, that Kenni’s laugh startled her. Kenni’s laugh was not mocking, by any means. It was innocent and genuine and bright. Morgan watched with wide eyes as the girl threw back her head and laughed.  _

_ In the short time she had known Kenni, Morgan had never seen Kenni give more than a small smile. Morgan, like Kenni, was an observer. She watched Kenni just as Kenni had watched her. She had witnessed Kenni, when she thought no one was around, sneak out of her bed to grab her lamb stuffed animal. Morgan had seen how Kenni’s eyes widened whenever she was addressed by the other girls. Most importantly, Morgan noticed how Kenni’s eyes were extremely guarded. The only thing that broke through the walls the smaller girl had put up was her anxiety. Kenni appeared so solemn all the time--so intense and quiet. That is what startled Morgan when Kenni laughed. It was the sheer unexpectedness of it.  _

_ After getting past the initial shock, Morgan began to laugh along with Kenni. They chuckled together as they came into the Great Hall. Once their chuckles ceased, they looked at each other in a way that expressed their spontaneous, newfound, sudden appreciation for one another. There wasn’t a way they could really explain how it specifically happened, but, nevertheless, Kennilworthy Switch-Rowle and Morgan Greengrass, in that one moment, became friends. _

_ Both girls sat at the Slytherin table together, now completely at ease with one another. They began to put food on their plates when a letter with small wings came over to each one of them. It unfolded itself and set itself down next to each of their hands.  _

_ Kenni picked up the one next to her hand, seeing that it was addressed to her. At the top, it said in a particularly swirly font, “Schedule:”  _

_ “Oh, you two already got your schedules!” Regina said, sitting in front of the two girls who jumped at the sound of her voice.  _

_ “Whatever gave you that idea, Gina?” Cassandra deadpanned, seating herself beside the girl.  _

_ “Oh, bugger off,” Regina stuck her tongue out at Cassandra, taking her own schedule which floated in front of her face.  _

_ “UGH!”  _

_ Kenni looked up to Regina with a raised eyebrow. She noticed that Cassandra wore an equally disgusted expression as Regina.  _

_ “What?” Morgan questioned.  _

_ “My brother told me that potions with Gryffindors is hell,” Cassandra replied, pointing to her schedule.  _

_ Kenni’s brow creased when she said that. She knew that the Gryffindors she knew were certainly a rowdy bunch, yet she wasn’t sure as to what exactly was bad about them. However, Kenni certainly wasn’t about to voice her confusion for fear of being ignorant. Thankfully, she didn’t need to.  _

_ “What’s so wrong with Gryffindors?”  _

_ Kenni looked over her shoulder to see Mara approaching with the ginger girl from the boat, Lily. Eliana was close behind.  _

_ Mara had her arms crossed and a reproachful look cast in the direction of the Slytherin’s sitting opposite of Kenni.  _

_ Kenni decided to devote all of her attention to her plate of food as if the approaching girls didn’t exist.  _

_ “Well,” Cassandra began, her eyebrow curving in a proud way. “If you must know, Gryffindors are loud and boisterous, disrupting any placid moment simply with their presence.”  _

_ “I’m not sure it’s quite fair of you to say that of all Gryffindors,” Lily said, crossing her arms along with Mara.  _

_ Cassandra and Regina shared a look before both of their eyes flickered back to the two Gryffindors.  _

_ “What’s your name? I haven’t seen you around before.” Regina asked Lily innocently, picking up a sausage from her plate and taking a bite of it.  _

_ Lily puffed her chest. “That’s because I’m a muggleborn. I’m Lily. Lily Evans.”  _

_ Regina inclined her head, offering Lily a smile that Kenni knew to be mocking.  _

_ “Is that so? What might a muggleborn, Gryffindor witch such as yourself be doing on this side of the Great Hall?”  _

_ Eliana spoke up before Lily got the chance, looking Regina in the eyes with peaceful confidence.  _

_ “We were just here to check on Kenni.”  _

_ Kenni cringed before recalling what Morgan had said about her emotions being too visible. She threw up a wall of indifference, rolling her head on her neck slightly as if to show that this was the first time she had heard them. _

_ “Indeed?” Cassandra’s head orbited lightly to Kenni. “You know these girls?”  _

_ Kenni now took this opportunity to turn and face them. She looked them all up and down, her eyes trying to push to each of them that she doesn’t mean anything by her next words.  _

_ “I’m afraid not. You must have me confused with someone else.” _

_ Kenni felt a sharp pang in her chest as a look of hurt crossed each of their faces.  _

_ “Wow.” Mara simply put, glaring at her.  _

_ Kenni thought this moment couldn’t get any worse and then she heard a loud voice announce the arrogant presence.  _

_ “Ladies!”  _

_ Kenni closed her eyes, hoping that when she would open them, James Potter and his possé would not be standing next to the girls.  _

_ Unfortunately, it didn’t work.  _

_ “How are you all doing this fine morning?” James beamed, throwing a playful arm around Eliana’s shoulders.  _

_ Remus waltzed up next to him, standing beside Mara, his hands in his pockets casually. Sirius stood back a-ways, giving Kenni a suspicious glance. The third boy, whose name Kenni did not recall, stood beside Sirius, his hands fiddling with his sleeve.  _

_ James then caught sight of the redhead standing between Mara and Eliana and his jaw went slack. His eyes widened and the goofy grin he wore completely fell from his face.  _

_ Remus raised his eyebrows at his friend’s sudden change before slowly looking back to Kenni. He shook his head lightly at his friend’s antics before inclining his head to Kenni.  _

_ “Alright there, Rowle?” He asked.  _

_ This moment all became too much for the poor girl who was forced to keep a secret that weighed heavily on her shoulders. She exhaled sharply. Before she was able to utter a word, however, Mara spoke up.  _

_ “There’s no point, Lupin. Rowle seems to be having a memory problem.”  _

_ With a final glare thrown at Kenni, she grabbed Remus’s sleeve and pulled him behind her as she stormed off. Remus shot Kenni a look of confusion that jabbed at Kenni’s heart. Lily was quick to follow Mara and Remus. James, still twitterpated, followed Lily. Sirius gave one last skeptic look to Kenni before exiting, the fourth, nameless boy trailing behind him.  _

_ Only Eliana remained. She gave Kenni an expression full of mixed emotions. Her eyes were full of disbelief, confusion, yet understanding, patients, kindness, betrayal, and sadness all in one. So much contradiction held in her eyes, however completely in line with her feelings.  _

_ After a moment, she just sighed softly and walked away, leaving Kenni filled with regret and sadness. However, she buried those feelings beneath the surface as she turned back to her food and stabbed at it nonchalantly.  _

_ Cassandra gave her a smirk. “You made the right choice. It wouldn’t do for a pureblood to associate with mudbloods such as them. It’ll do you well to be with us.”  _

_ Kenni looked up, her eyes turning dangerously fiery despite her neutral expression.  _

_ “I don’t want to be with you. I don’t need any of you.” Kenni’s tone betrayed her attempt at neutrality. She sharply stood from the table, storming off to the bathroom.  _

_ *~* _

Kenni’s dream shifted to later that year, around Halloween.

*~*

_ “I still don’t understand why you’re not forgiving her. I have! So has Remus, James, and Lily! Everyone but you, Mara!” Eliana said, exasperatedly to Mara after Kenni had walked up and Mara made a point of ignoring her.  _

_ Kenni awkwardly sat back and watched as Mara spun to face Eliana.  _

_ “‘Everyone but me’?” Mara whipped to Eliana. “What are Peter, Marlene, Alice, and Sirius? Chopped liver?”  _

_ Eliana rolled her eyes. “Well… Peter’s Peter. He’s like that with everyone. Marlene and Alice weren’t there so they’re exempt from needing to forgive, and Sirius has been acting weird around Kenni for a lot longer than this situation. Plus we’re friends! She explained why she replied the way she did!”  _

_ Mara scoffed, “Yeah, ‘cause the girls were watching her’.” She did air quotes. “Whatever that’s supposed to mean. Sounds like a load of bloody crap to me. I don’t buy it for a second. Just because you’re a pushover doesn’t mean I have to be.”  _

_ Mara’s words to El ignited some sort of flame inside of Kenni. She stepped forward, her brown eyes flaring with anger. _

_ “Oi!” Kenni stepped to stand between her best friend and Mara. “Forgiveness doesn’t mean she’s a pushover. Forgiveness is one of the bravest things you could ever do. El put herself on the line and risked getting hurt again because she’s giving me a chance to make it right. She’s showing grace and kindness. After all, good people can say some really awful things. I’m sure you of all people can understand that, Ellis.”  _

_ Mara glared at her before whipping her head to face James, (who was laying on his side, previously picking at the grass before turning to face the argument that was happening before him) Sirius, (who was leaning back against a tree, watching the conversation out of the corner of his eye, acting as though he didn’t care in the slightest) Remus, (who was sitting next to Lily with an open book in his lap that he wasn’t paying the slightest bit of attention to) Lily, (who also had an open book in her lap) Marlene, (who was leaning on the side of the tree, previously trying to get Sirius’s attention) Alice, (who was sitting next to Peter, previously having a polite conversation about the weather) and Peter (who had been engaging in Alice’s polite conversation about the weather).  _

_ “And all you lot agree with her?”  _

_ Everyone suddenly found everything except for the fiery blonde in front of them immensely interesting.  _

_ Mara let out a sharp sigh, before standing and dramatically walking off.  _

_ “Mara, wait!” Lily closed the book in her lap and ran after her.  _

_ Kenni just watched her go before letting out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. She jumped when Eliana walked forward and put a hand on her shoulder.  _

_ “Thank you,” Eliana smiled kindly. _

_ Kenni shrugged, smiling back slightly, “It’s the least I can do, Ellie.”  _

_ A few minutes later, Lily and Mara returned.  _

_ Mara crossed her arms and looked very begrudging as she came forward.  _

_ Lily nudged Mara who shot her a glance. Mara sighed sharply before looking to Kenni.  _

_ She mumbled something and Kenni raised an eyebrow. _

_ “Sorry?”  _

_ “Ijustwantedtosayi’msorrybecauseyoudeserveasecondchancesoi’msorry.” She gushed.  _

_ Kenni did all she could to hide her smile. “You’re going to have to slow down, I couldn’t understand you.”  _

_ Mara rolled her eyes and uncrossed her arms. “Damn it, Kenni. Can’t you just accept my apology and make this easy for me?”  _

_ Kenni let her smile fill her face, “Where’s the fun in that, Ellis?” _

_ *~* _

Her dream shifted once more to the first Black Annual Recherche Festivities (or B.A.R.F. as Kenni amused herself in thinking) Kenni had ever attended. It was during the Christmas of her first year. 

*~*

_ Kenni held onto her father’s hand as the world rushed past her as Chevalier apparated them. Soon, the tall buildings of Grimmulad place came into focus. However, her brow creased when she recalled that they were supposed to go to 12 Grimmulad place, however, the numbers on the sides of the buildings read 9, 10, 11, 13, 14… and so on.  _

_ Kenni looked up to Chevalier who gave her the slightest smile. He leaned over and whispered in her ear, “This is perhaps the only thing I actually enjoy at Black parties.”  _

_ Chevalier pulled out his wand and tapped it lightly on the wooden post that stood between building numbers 11 and 13.  _

_ Right before Kenni’s eyes, the bricks began to shift. Windows shrunk and grew and numbers 11 and 13 parted, revealing the 12th house. Music the likes of which Kenni had never heard of before poured out of the windows.  _

_ Chevalier tugged lightly on Kenni’s hand and, with a kind smile, pulled her towards the front door. He brought out his wand, but before he knocked he turned to Kenni.  _

_ “Remember--”  _

_ “Dad, I know.” Kenni sighed, for he had drilled into her head for hours on end before the party the necessity of keeping their secret. “I’ll be careful.” _

_ Chevalier seemed to visibly relax before knocking on the front door with his wand.  _

_ The door opened, seemingly on its own, to a darkly decorated house, despite the excessive lighting. Kenni let go of her father’s hand and they walked separately into the great, noisy ballroom.  _

_ Kenni proceeded with caution towards the direction of the strange, classical music. It was bizarrely haunting. It was oddly enchanting. It was as though the essence of magic had been turned into an audible tune. She found herself caught up in the music and started to sway.  _

_ She managed to catch herself before she got too lost in it. She blinked a few times, snapping herself out of her strange trance. She looked around at the scenery before her. It was as though she was picked up and placed into a party that took place 50 years prior. _

_ Witches and wizards were dressed in extravagant robes with oddly shaped glasses filled with strangely colored liquids. They chatted away while some danced in the middle.  _

_ Kenni was too busy observing the scene to notice Morgan walking briskly towards her. Kenni only noticed the young Greengrass when she felt a hand slip into hers.  _

_ Jumping at the sudden contact, she spun only to face a grinning girl.  _

_ “Godric, Mo, you scared me!” Kenni said, putting a hand on her heart.  _

_ Morgan smiled, “Serves you right! You didn’t tell me you were coming to this!” _

_ Kenni grinned, “I didn’t know I was until I got home and these robes were on my bed.”  _

_ “Oh, and I’m so glad. This entire night is going to be so much more bearable with you here!” Morgan beamed, letting go of Kenni’s hand to clap excitedly.  _

_ Kenni chuckled at Morgan’s antics. However, Morgan wasn’t the only one to notice Kenni’s presence.  _

_ “Well, well, well. Lookie what we have here.” _

_ Kenni and Morgan spun to face Cassandra walking towards them. Despite her youth, she appeared rather mature in her long, green dress. Kenni didn’t know hips could sway in a belittling fashion until she saw Cassandra walking forward in that moment.  _

_ Cassandra wasn’t alone, unfortunately. She was followed by Regina, her twin, Silas, and a boy and girl who were a few years older than the rest of the group. The older boy seemed strangely familiar to Kenni. However, she couldn’t quite put her thumb on it.  _

_ “Good evening, Cassandra.” Kenni began, politely. She had gotten better at this whole  _ disguising one’s emotions _ thing.  _

_ “I wasn’t aware you were coming tonight,” Cassandra replied, politely.  _

_ Kenni smiled slightly, “Neither was I.”  _

_ Cassandra’s smile was tight. She then seemed to remember the people standing behind her.  _

_ “Have you met Lucius Malfoy and Narcissa Black?” Cassandra stepped to the side slightly to introduce the new faces. _

_ Kenni shook her head before looking at Lucius and Narcissa. “I’m afraid I haven’t. I’m Kenni Rowle.”  _

_ Narcissa nodded at her politely while Lucius eyed the girl up and down. His expression caused something to click in her mind. It was the boy who pushed her on the platform when she got off the Hogwarts express.  _

_ “Pleasure.” He replied curtly before quickly opening his mouth, “I heard Chevalier adopted a girl. Is it true you came from a muggle home?”  _

_ Kenni’s heart rate increased as it often did before she spoke of her background. “Foster care. The muggle police picked me up before the Aurors ever got a chance. I’ve been passed from one muggle home to another.”  _

_ He sneered, “I can’t imagine what that must’ve been like. Disgusting, no doubt.”  _

_ Kenni’s eyebrow arched and she went to speak further when a new voice joined. _

_ “Ah, Cissy. I’ve found you. Mother’s been asking for you. She wishes to see the engagement ring.”  _

_ Kenni felt as though her heart had suddenly vacated her chest and now all that was left was a big, black pit of endless nothing as she turned to face Sirius Black. _

_ Narcissa’s nose crinkled in disgust, “Don’t call me ‘Cissy’, Sirius.”  _

_ Sirius only smirked before turning to Kenni and Morgan.  _

_ “Rowle, I must borrow you for a moment, if you won’t mind.”  _

_ The corner of Sirius’s mouth inclined slightly before he walked away, expecting the girl to follow. _

_ Kenni nodded to Cassandra and her crowd before turning to follow Sirius. As they walked off, Morgan and Kenni’s eyes locked and they shared a look of confusion before Kenni went on.  _

_ Kenni proceeded out a set of duch doors to a small balcony where Sirius stood with his hands in his pockets.  _

_ “What do you need, Black?” Kenni said, honestly on edge since she was more than aware of his distaste for her. His wanting to speak to her was far from innocent.  _

_ He turned to face her, eyebrows raised at her tone. “What do I need? Nothing. Nothing at all.” He gave her a smirk before turning forward again.  _

_ Kenni’s brow furrowed in confusion, “What the hell do you want--” _

_ “I’d stay away from Malfoy and Narcissa if I were you.”  _

_ Kenni’s face contorted in more confusion. “Why--”  _

_ “They find out secrets faster than you can say ‘hiding something’. Would you like a sweet?” He turned and offered her the napkin that had previously been resting on the railing to her.  _

_ Kenni ignored him and she felt her heart skip a beat. Panic rose in her throat and hugged her vocal cords so that when she spoke, her voice sounded slightly strained.  _

_ “I don’t know what you’re--”  _

_ “Don’t bother. I know the face of someone who’s hiding something.” Sirius said, popping some sweets into his mouth.  _

_ Kenni, frustrated she keeps getting interrupted, opened her mouth to say something only to be cut off by Sirius who apparently wasn’t finished.  _

_ “That’s not the real reason I pulled you away though.” He crumpled up the now empty napkin and dropped it onto the floor. Kenni crinkled her nose in distaste but stepped forward to stand next to Sirius because her curiosity got the better of her.  _

_ “Then what is the real reason, pray tell.” She replied somewhat sarcastically.  _

_ Sirius gave her a sideways glance, slight amusement tugging at his sharp features. He took a beat of silence, looking at the stars before speaking.  _

_ “Remus, actually.” _

_ Kenni’s confusion increased tenfold when he said this. “What?”  _

_ “Well, it’s no secret that you’re friends. Just because I can see that there’s something about you that’s clearly suspicious doesn’t mean the others are that observant. He likes you. He told me to keep an eye on you.”  _

_ “And you listened?” Kenni asked suspiciously.  _

_ Sirius shrugged. “Remus is my mate. And the odds over there were quite uneven. Five against one didn’t seem fair. Not to mention talking to you right now gave me a chance to catch my breath.” His features read clear disgust as he loosened the necktie he was wearing.  _

_ Kenni rolled her eyes. “Your breath seems to have been caught so I will go back to Morgan who you led me away from for no reason.”  _

_ “Careful, Rowle. My cousins aren’t exactly the sweetest bunch to be hanging around.” He warned over his shoulder as she walked off.  _

*~*

The dream shifted for the fourth time, except this was to later that night.

*~*

_ Chevalier and Kenni walked briskly into a room that Kenni saw was an office. He closed the door and spun to Kenni.  _

_ “What happened?” He asked sharply.  _

_ Kenni’s breathing was erratic. Her eyes filled with tears as she rambled. “Malfoy just kept asking questions… He kept pressing and wouldn’t take no. I couldn’t have left, or it would’ve been more suspicious. Then his parents came up and they just asked more questions. I’m sorry--” _

_ “What did they say?” He asked.  _

_ Tears fell with reckless abandon down her cheeks. “He just started by saying how I reminded him of a girl he once knew. He kept asking more questions about my birth mother. I said I didn’t know anything, but apparently it wasn’t convincing enough because he just kept asking questions and-- Dad, I’ve ruined it. He’s going to know. He’s going to know I’m your daughter. He said something about how I had your eyes and I said that I had gotten told that before.”  _

_ Chevalier’s eyes widened and he opened his mouth to say something when the floorboard creaked outside. His head jerked up and he pulled his wand. In one fluid motion, he walked to the door, opened it, and pointed his wand to the person who stood smugly.  _

_ “Haldus--” _

_ “Chevalier,” Malfoy’s dad began with an easy smile on his face. “I don’t believe you are in a position to be pointing your wand at me.”  _

_ Chevalier ignored him and continued to point his wand strongly at the blonde, sleazy man before him. “How much did you hear?”  _

_ Haldus simply tutted, shaking a finger at Chevalier like he was a child. “Come, now, old friend. I didn’t need to eavesdrop to know your little secret. I’m not blind. I knew Laurel for as long as you did. Seems she lives on in her daughter.”  _

_ Kenni stood, panicked, her tears silently streaming down her face as she watched her father shove Haldus into the wall, grabbing the front of the taller man’s robes threateningly.  _

_ Haldus only laughed at Chevalier’s aggression. “The Dark Lord is going to be beyond furious when he hears of this.” He turned his head mockingly. “Unless…”  _

_ “Unless what, Malfoy? I’m not above killing.” Chevalier spat.  _

_ Haldus simply laughed again. “Oh, I know. But, you won’t kill me. Too suspicious here. Not to mention I rank higher than you, so if you kill me, the Dark Lord would not be happy.” He said lazily. “If you would politely lower your wand, I’ll tell you my conditions.”  _

_ Chevalier gave Haldus a glare that was full of nothing but hatred before lowering his wand. Haldus straightened his robes and held his chin high. He gave Chevalier a smile before walking into the office. Chevalier followed, this time closing, locking, and putting enchantments on the door.  _

*~*

Kenni woke up on the first day of her third year in a sweat. Recalling the threat of Malfoy hanging over her head made her stressed. She buried her face in her hands and tried to slow her breathing. 

“Kenni?” The small, timid voice of Morgan’s voice reached her ears. “You alright?” 

Kenni exhaled sharply. Cassandra and Regina are still asleep, so Morgan was whispering. 

“What time is it?” Kenni groaned, running her hands through her hair again, still trying to calm herself. 

“5:30,” Morgan answered, simply. “You had a nightmare. What was it?” 

Kenni groaned quietly and flopped back on the bed. “Nothing to be worried about, Mo. I’m fine. Go back to sleep.” 

Morgan sighed and then laid back down. “Aight. Goodnight, Kenni.” 

“‘Night.” 

Kenni was left alone with her thoughts for not the first time since she found out she was a witch. 

~*~*~

**A/N:**

Hey, guys! Hope you liked it! 

Don't forget to leave kudos! 

Stay safe and stay strong!

\- Kate


	9. SIX

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Kenni gets confronted by some unwanted Slytherins and Gryffindors.

The first day of Kenni’s third year was like almost every other year before that. 

Note the word: “almost”. 

She sat down at the Slytherin table next to Morgan in peaceful silence. 

Their schedules floated in front of them and they commented offhandedly on the fact that they had Herbology with the Ravenclaws, Transfiguration with the Hufflepuffs, and Defense Against the Dark Arts with the Gryffindors. 

It was as though simply uttering the word “Gryffindor” summoned the worst of them. 

“Rowle, Greengrass! My Slyther-bitches!” 

Kenni tilted her head to glare at James as he threw his arms around both of the girls he addressed. Morgan’s face was beat red as she politely removed his arm from around her shoulder. 

“Potter,” Kenni said in a sickeningly sweet way. “If you call me that again, you will find extra arms sprouting out of incredibly unflattering places.” 

James smiled awkwardly and slowly removed his arm from around her shoulders. “Right.” 

The chuckles of Mara, Remus, Peter, and (to Kenni’s surprise) Sirius chorused from behind James. 

“I always knew I liked you.” Lily Evans said fondly as she heard Kenni’s threat. 

Kenni sent her a smirk. 

“To what do we owe the pleasure,” Kenni snorted at Morgan’s use of the word “pleasure”, seeing as it was  _ NOT _ the adjective she would have chosen to describe the presence of the rather irritating Gryffindors. 

That’s not to say Kenni has anything  _ against _ them, per se. She just found their pranks rather bothersome, especially since one Sirius Black found targeting her as their victim to be a rather entertaining pastime. 

“Just checking in on our favorite girls in green.” Mara voiced, sitting down next to Kenni, her back to the table. 

Kenni raised an eyebrow, “Since when do you check in on us?” 

“Since it’s the beginning of our third year and we’ve decided to assimilate you into our little group, that’s when!” Marlene said as though it were the most obvious thing while shoving her gob with a rather large piece of bread that she retrieved from Morgan’s plate. 

Before Kenni could even open her mouth, another voice joined the fray.

“Well if it isn’t all of my favorite friends here on one side of the great hall!” Eliana said chipperly, throwing her arms around Lily and Peter’s shoulders. 

“Don’t encourage them,” Kenni said bitterly, taking bites of the eggs that were neatly served on her plate. “They might make this a regular thing if you do.” 

“That’s a great idea, Rowle! We should do this every morning!”

“Godric, help me.”

Remus leaned forward, towering over Kenni. “Oh, come now, Ken. You don’t truly hate us, do you?” 

Kenni looked up at him, her expression so dry it would’ve made him falter if he didn’t understand her humor so well. “Don’t I?” 

But, fortunately for Remus, he understood her humor quite well, indeed. So he simply beamed at her. 

“The real reason we came over today was to see if you all wanted to come with us to the black lake after classes today.” A fellow Gryffindor named Alice Fortescue spoke up, kindly. “Ya know, just to hang out and check up on each other’s news since summer.” 

Once again, Kenni opened her mouth to speak, but found herself unable to get a word out. 

“Sounds lovely!” Morgan voiced before sending a sharp look in Kenni’s direction. “We  _ will _ be there.” 

“Will we, now?” Kenni looked to her roommate with raised eyebrows, her tone laced with sarcasm. 

“ _ Yes. _ We  _ will _ .” Morgan replied sharply. “And we will have  _ fun _ .” 

Kenni was not convinced. “Why are you so willing to, quite literally, throw us to the lions?” 

“And Badger!” 

Kenni turned her head slightly in Eliana’s direction. “Right, thank you. Why are you so willing to, quite literally, throw us to the eight lions and singular badger?” 

Mara rolled her eyes. ‘We’re not  _ that _ bad.” 

Kenni just gave her a look that was purely unamused. 

“Okay, well, if you discount James we’re not that bad.” She amended.

“Oi!” 

The corners of Kenni’s mouth edged up in a small smile. 

She then signed in defeat. “I really don’t have a choice do I?” 

“Nope!” chorused nearly everyone surrounding her. 

Kenni looked at the ceiling. “You’re going to drag me there even if I choose not to go, aren’t you?”

“Yep!” Marlene said with a food-filled mouth. 

“You can count on it.” Mara grinned. 

“Without a shred of doubt.” Peter nodded. 

“Who needs to drag you when we have magic?” Morgan stated politely.

“I thought we already concluded that you didn’t have a choice.” Remus offered, unhelpfully. 

“You’re gonna be hexed into the next century if I don’t get some Kenni time.” Eliana threatened. 

“It wouldn’t be the same without you there!” Alice argued. 

“Dragging you could ruin my clothes. I’ll stick with using my wand, thanks.” James concluded with a smirk. 

“I’m surprised you even had to ask.” Lily shrugged.

Kenni finally looked to Sirius who was just standing there with his hands in his pockets. He offered her a sly smile. His bright grey eyes looking at her from under half-closed eyelids. He lifted his shoulders in a nonchalant way. “I need to be able to count on you to bring down the mood in case things get  _ too _ joyful.” 

Kenni returned her gaze to her plate for a minute, weighing her options before throwing her head back and letting out a loud groan of defeat, which signaled the entire group to cheer, knowing she was giving in. 

“Alright, alright,” Kenni waved her hand at them, dismissively, however unable to keep the corners of her mouth from turning up into a small smile. 

But, naturally, the good mood was soon to be squandered. 

“And what’s all this excitement about?” The voice of Lucius Malfoy hissed as he approached. His usual posse of Cassandra, Narcissa, Regina and Silas, and, the newest member, Severus Snape were sitting at the opposite end of the table, watching the scene that was unfolding. 

“Don’t think it’s any of your business, is it, Malfoy?” James stated, stepping forward to meet him. 

The older boy simply responded with a raised eyebrow, donning an expression that rivaled a parent looking at a child who said something so adorably incorrect. In short, his look was quite belittling. But whether Potter noticed it or not was a mystery to dear Kenni. 

“Well, seeing as you’re sitting around  _ my _ table and fraternizing with  _ my _ house members, it very well might be.” He puffed his chest in a way that caused his prefect badge to catch the light of the candles. 

Sirius scoffed, “I wasn’t aware you owned the entire house of Slytherin, Malfoy. Did mummy buy it for you?” 

Lucius looked to his soon to be cousin-in-law and glared. “Speaking of mothers, Black, how’s yours doing?” 

Sirius’s arm instinctively reached up to rub his left shoulder, unthinkingly, before he lowered it quickly and his lip curled over his teeth in a hate-filled snarl. 

“Lucius, shouldn’t you be brushing that lovely hair of yours?” Kenni offered, looking positively bored.

You see, over the past two years she has become quite good at hiding her emotions. From an outside perspective, she looked as though she were completely at ease and bored out of her mind. However, Kenni’s heart was racing at the prospect of her challenging Malfoy and drawing attention to herself. 

She didn’t even falter when his head whipped to her. She simply checked her nails. 

“Defending our dear friends, now, are we? Forgetting our place?” His eyes were flames as he spoke. 

At his second rhetorical question, her eyes flickered with the slightest bit of fear, before she regained the facade she was putting up. 

She snorted, “Please. I was just telling them to go away. You see, I rather like the quiet in the morning and--” 

“Careful,  _ Rowle, _ ” Malfoy interrupted with a sneer. 

Those two words alone was enough to stop Kenni in the middle of her sentence. She snapped her jaw shut and turned her face away, raising her nose in a dignified way. 

“You should go back to your side of the hall where you belong. We don’t want to cause any trouble now, do we?” Lucius said mockingly. 

Mara took a step forward in fury, about to open her mouth to say something she would probably regret, but Eliana caught her shoulder. 

“You’re right,” Eliana only looked at Malfoy. “We’ll go.”

“We will?” Peter questioned. 

Sirius rolled his eyes. “Come on,” He tugged Peter's arm and walked away, James, Eliana and Mara following in suit. 

Lily turned to the Slytherin table before leaving. “See you later, Kenni, Morgan.” 

Alice offered them a kind wave, Remus gave them a boyish grin, and Marlene sent them a wink.

Kenni rolled her eyes at them before turning back to her food, ignoring Lucius. She continued to eat and Lucius continued to stand there. After a few bited, Lucius finally spoke up. 

“You should watch--” 

“I’m sorry, why are you still here?” Kenni sent him an innocent look as she interrupted him. 

If looks could kill, Kenni would probably be dead. “You should be more careful with your cheek around  _ me _ , Rowle.” 

Kenni simply stared at him. She absorbed all the hatred he shot at her with his eyes and used it to fuel her own facade of indifference, knowing it would affect him most of she didn’t look the slightest bit bothered. 

Soon Malfoy got the message that his threats were getting nowhere and walked off briskly back to his friends at the other side of the table. 

Once he was gone, Kenni exhaled sharply. Morgan looked at her with the slightest concern. 

They shared a look.

Kenni sighed. “This is going to be a very interesting year.” 

She took another bite of her eggs. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys! I hope you enjoy! This was a bit of a filler, but I hope you liked it nevertheless! Im gonna be posting this one along with chapter 7 because I just realized how behind I was in updating! 
> 
> Anyways!  
> Stay safe and strong!  
> \- Kate


	10. SEVEN

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Kenni meets a new guy and has a bit of bonding with a particular group of Gryffindors all while one Sirius Black acts rather odd.

Kenni and Morgan wandered through all of their classes together. Morgan was rather looking forward to that afternoon. Kenni was, too, but god forbid she showed it. She sulked, more or less, from class to class. 

As she sat down in her double transfiguration with the Ravenclaws, Professor McGonagall tapped her wand on her desk, drawing everyone's attention to the front. 

“As of this year, I am implementing assigned seating.” 

A chorus of groans echoed across the room. 

“Excuse me! Need I remind you, you are third year Hogwarts students, not a bunch of disgruntled cavemen!” She scolded, firmly, causing it to grow silent again. 

She tapped the chalkboard, and a seating chart appeared. “Now, I will hear no more of your complaints. Please find your name, then your seat. I will give instruction once those first two things are completed.” 

Kenni looked to the board and found her name on the far left side of the board, seated next to one Dominic Flockhart. Having never heard the name before, she shrugged and looked over to her desk to see a Ravenclaw boy, apparently Dominic, already seated. 

She walks up to him and sits down. Kenni silently prays that he doesn’t speak. 

Her prayers were not answered. 

“Hello,” Dominic said politely. “You must be Kennilworthy.” 

She cringed at the use of her full name. “It’s Kenni, actually. You must be Dominic.” 

He gave her a sly smile, “I prefer Domi.” 

“My apologies.” 

He didn’t reply right away. There was a moment of semi-awkward silence before Domi spoke again. 

“What’s it like to be in the house full of traditionalist purebloods?” 

Before Hogwarts, Kenni would have probably blanched at his bluntness. However, after two years of being friends with one Mara Ellis and Marlene Mckinnon, blunt comments such as these have lost their effect. 

She simply blinked, “I don’t know. What’s it like to be in the house full of muggleborn nerds?” 

He smiled. “I think we’ll get along just fine.” 

Kenni arched an eyebrow. “Indeed?” 

He looked quite sure of himself as he nodded and looked to the front of the class. “Indeed we will.” 

They weren’t able to carry on any further conversation, for Professor McGonagall began her lesson. 

The lesson droned on. Kenni only half paid attention. She doodled a sun in the top right corner of her parchment and a flower in the bottom left. She even gave them both sunglasses for good measure.

She was in the middle of zoning out for the sixteenth time (Domi counted) when she saw the tip of a wand tap her page. She was about to turn to Domi angrily when she saw movement on her paper. 

She peered down at her paper and saw the little sun and flower begin to dance. 

She flicked her eyes to the blonde Ravenclaw boy beside her and gave him a smirk. Domi spun his wand expertly in response. 

“How long did it take you to learn how to do that without dropping it?” Kenni asked, jotting down what McGonagall wrote on the chalkboard. 

“A few years. Although, it was before I came to Hogwarts. My older sister played the drums, so she taught it to me when I was a kid.” Domi explained, somewhat sheepishly. 

Kenni nodded, “Ah.” 

“For the remainder of the year, all projects that I assign are to be completed with your partner.” 

The silence of the room was filled with teenage groans. Kenni looked around, amusedly at all the students.

“You’d think it were the end of the world by the way they’re reacting.” Domi leaned over to her and muttered, causing the corners of Kenni’s mouth to edge up in a smile.

McGonagall tried multiple times to try and quiet the protests of her students, but nothing seemed to work. So, with her brows cinched together, causing firm wrinkles of disgruntlement to form on her forehead, she put her wand to her throat, and muttered something that Kenni couldn’t understand. 

“ **_SILENCE_ ** !!” McGonagall’s voice boomed throughout the room. It was so loud that Kenni felt the vibration of it in her chest. She covered her ears along with the rest of the class. 

No one tried to protest after that. 

“Now,” their professor began, still rather agitated. “Now that you all have returned from your plight of childish insanity, please permit me to carry on!” 

She looked around the room, as if she were daring anyone to deny her the ability to explain the project.

No one spoke. 

She went on to explain the project she was assigning them. She pointedly added that anyone who complained about their partners could deal with it by writing a four meter long parchment on the spell that they were shown at the beginning of class. She set the deadline of their project to be at the end of the week. 

After that, she dismissed the class. 

“Right, well…” Domi began, looking at Kenni who was packing her bag. “Care to meet me tomorrow after school to get started on the project?” 

Kenni shrugged, “Might as well.” 

Domi gave her a crooked grin. “Brilliant. Well, see you tomorrow, partner.” 

And with that, he walked off, whistling to himself as he went. 

Kenni, rather taken aback by the odd boy that she failed to notice Morgan walk up to her. 

“He certainly is an odd duck.” 

Kenni jumped, turning around to see the quiet girl approaching. She exhaled sharply, trying to settle her racing heart. She turned back to putting away her ink and quill. 

“Indeed he is.” 

Morgan shrugged, ignoring--but not at all unaware of--the fact that Kenni was startled. “Oh well. Time to meet some other odd ducks by the lake.” 

Kenni nearly had forgotten about that. She pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to stifle her forgetfulness. 

“Right. Guess we best be off then.” 

Morgan smiled kindly. “Guess we shall.” 

~*~*~

“How could you do this to me?” 

“I did it to protect you!” 

“Protect me!? You only did it to protect yourself!” 

“Ladies, please!” Remus said with a smirk, his hands raised to try and calm the two in front of him. “It’s only a game.” 

“HAH! ‘Only a game’ he says! A game I bet half my life savings on!” Mara said as she threw her hands in the air, theatrically. 

“No one told you to bet that high, Mars.” Eliana said with a grin.

As Kenni and Morgan approached, they came upon the Gryffindors (and singular Hufflepuff), playing their usual Beginning-Of-The-Year-Exploding-Snap-Tournament. Kenni opted out of it, for she far preferred to observe, while Morgan thought it extremely entertaining and took on the challenge gladly. 

They did this every single year, and every single year Mara lost a substantial amount of money. Not that she had very much wizarding money to begin with, being muggleborn. 

In the past three years of playing this game, the group has come to realize that Eliana and Morgan are both absolute champs. The game has become less and less a “tournament for the win” and more and more a “beat Pyper and Greengrass”. 

This wouldn’t be the only tournament this year. They did this all quite often. The idea was brought up by Mara and the rest thought it was a brilliant idea. 

Kenni was quite content in observing. She was the one who kept score. If she had played, it would have been an uneven number and would have made tournament-ing rather difficult. 

“Ah! There are our two snakes!” James beamed from his spot on the grass where he toyed with a snitch. 

“You really need to work on your nicknames, Potter.” Kenni said with a slight frown. 

James simply dismissed her with a wave of his hand. “How was ol’ Minnie?” 

“She gave us assigned seating and a partner project that was due at the end of the week.” Morgan said as she plopped down next to Remus, now tuning into the game. 

“Oh, that’s vile.” Marlene voiced from her spot between Sirius and Alice. Her face scrunched up in disgust. 

Kenni hummed in agreement. 

“Did she at least give you the option to choose your partners?” Alice asked. 

“Nope.” Kenni said bluntly, popping the “p”. 

“Ew.” 

“Oh, stop it,” Lily scolded Marlene. “It’s not that bad.” She turned her attention to the two Slytherins. “Who are your partners?” 

Morgan’s nose crinkled with disgust as she thought about it, “Sarah Acker.” 

A chorus of sympathetic “ooo”’s echoed amongst the group. 

“Oh, come now, Sarah can’t be that bad.” Lily said, trying to look for a bright side. 

“She smells like a boys locker room.” Mara offered. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen her with brushed hair.” James pondered. 

“She picks her nose.” Peter added. 

“Yeah, and I witnessed her eat whatever she was digging for today.” Morgan nodded to Peter, mournfully. 

Lily’s expression became disgusted rather quickly. “Oh… that is awful.” 

Morgan nodded once more. 

Remus looked to Kenni, “How ‘bout you, Kenni?” 

Kenni glanced up at the boy and shrugged, leaning against the tree. “Domanic Flockhart.” 

“Oh, he’s not too bad.” Alice said. 

“Yeah. A bit mad, though.” Mara added. 

Kenni scoffed, “Said the pot to the kettle.”

Mara looked up to Kenni, “Don’t act like you’re all there.” 

Kenni raised an eyebrow. “But I am. Especially when compared to you loones.” 

“Ya hear that, Sirius?” James looked to his best friend who was lounging right next to him. “We’re loones!” 

“Absolutely mad.” Remus agreed. 

“Barkingly so.” Sirius smirked. 

“Truly bonkers.” Peter added. 

Kenni only rolled her eyes. 

“Am I getting roped in with them?” Morgan looked to her friend. 

Kenni shook her head, still as dry as ever. “No, only the ones that call themselves Marauders.” 

“Oi, Remus is perfectly sane!” James argued. 

“Cheers, mate.” Remus beamed at his friend. 

Mara snorted.

“Excuse me, ma’am, but are you negating the fact that I am sane!” Remus said with mocked shock.

Mara quirked her head a little at him. “Indeed I am and--” 

She wasn’t allowed to get another word out for her cards exploded in her hands. 

“DAMN IT, PYPER!” 

“It’s not my fault you weren’t paying attention!” 

Mara threw the remains of her burning cards down on the grass in front of them. 

Lily brought out her wand and tapped it lightly on a spare piece of parchment. The parchment grew to the size of a poster board and a game bracket appeared on it. She handed it to Kenni. 

“All yours.”

Kenni nodded, taking it. She sat down and got out her quill and ink, writing down the names of the matches on the lines, making sure to put Mara now in the losers bracket. 

“You know, Rowle, I think I’ve figured out what’s wrong with you.” 

Kenni slowly turned her head to look at Sirius with an affronted expression. 

“Excuse me?” 

Sirius only hummed in response. He raised an eyebrow and smirked a little. “Care to know what it is?” 

“Not really.” 

“I’m going to act like you said yes.” He said pointing at her, the smirk growing into a boyish smile. “I’ll tell you what’s wrong with you. You never laugh.” 

Kenni’s eyebrows shot up. “Maybe I do, it’s just never around you.” 

Sirius scoffed, “Trust me, if you never laugh around us, you never laugh at all.” 

Kenni’s offense increased. “That was rather bold of you to assume you’re that humorous.” 

Sirius lounged backward, looking cool as can be. “But of course. We Marauders are nothing if not bold. But that’s besides the point. You never laugh.” 

“You said that already.” 

“And I intend to change that.” Sirius added with a grin. 

“Please don’t.” Kenni cringed. 

“No! No need to worry, darling! I will put joy back into your life if it’s the last thing I do!” 

“You putting anything into my life other than annoyance will be a rather incredible feat.” Kenni said as her face scrunched in dislike of the nickname. 

“What can I say? I like a good challenge.” 

Kenni went back to writing her tournament bracket, “Don’t hold your breath.”

The afternoon went on with witty banter and otherwise until they had their next class. 

Although, Kenni couldn’t stop thinking about how odd Sirius was to her. His strange declaration had her guard up. She knew all about the marauder’s pranks, and now that Sirius was hell bent on making her “laugh”, Kenni knew that she was going to be the new and latest object of such tricks. 

She added it to the already long list of things she needed to be cautious of. 

  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOPE YALL LIKED IT!  
> STAY SAFE AND STRONG!  
> \- KATE  
> (p.s. we officially reached 100 pages in this chapter!!)


	11. EIGHT

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Sirius Black is an absolute ninny.

The next day’s classes went by normally. Kenni had nothing truly abnormal to report about them. History of Magic was boring (as per usual), Charms was somewhat trying, and Ancient Runes was rather riveting (at least in Kenni’s mind). 

Soon the time came for Kenni to have her meeting with Domi to work on their transfiguration project. They had previously discussed meeting in the library, so, after Ancient Runes, that’s exactly where Kenni went. 

She entered the library, walked up and down the rows to try and find the boy she was looking for. After a few passes, she realized that Domi had not yet arrived. So, she chose a table near the entrance where he could see her when he walked in. 

After the first five minutes, Kenni walked over to the book shelf across from her and snagged a rather interesting looking book on Alchemy before returning to her seat to wait for the tardy boy. 

Kenni waited a total of twenty minutes before the blonde ravenclaw boy decided to make an appearance. 

“You’re late.” Kenni stated with a raised brow as she marked her place in the book on alchemy. 

Domi sat down across from her with a scoff, “ A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to ” 

Kenni became mildly amused, “Was that Tolkien?”

Domi raised an eyebrow, “You’ve read him?” 

“One of the foster families that I had read it to me every night.” Kenni shrugged easily. It wasn’t entirely a lie. Uncle Steven read  _ The Lord of the RIngs _ to Eliana and her every night when they were 8. The only lie was the bit about a foster family. 

“Foster families?” Domi asked, curiously. 

Kenni went into her usual spiel. “My parents were killed when I was a baby. The muggle police found me before the ministry was able. Only recently was I adopted by my…er...true family.” 

“Indeed?” Domi said with a twinkle in his eye and a smirk on his face. Kenni had a sinking feeling that he didn’t believe her in the slightest. “Well, your foster family had exquisite taste.” 

“You’re a Tolkien fan?” Kenni said, trying to make conversation. 

“Clearly.” 

“How about C.S. Lewis?”

“I prefer muggle literature.” 

Kenni was perplexed by his response. “Do you mean to say that C.S. Lewis was a wizard?” 

Domi gave her a smirk, “Naturally. Now, should we begin?” 

“I suppose,” Kenni shrugged, pulling her transfiguration notes from her bag. 

Domi was an interesting partner. That’s not to say that he’s a bad worker. On the contrary, he had an amazing work ethic. However, his methods were quite peculiar. 

He spoke nearly all his thoughts out loud and half the things he said were in some form of cryptic riddle. Kenni was completely lost at first, however as the hours went on, she became used to his rather unorthodox ways and they fell into a swift groove. 

After about three hours, they nearly had the project completed. Kenni was rather proud of their work. She sat back and admired it for a moment. She went on to continue writing when the page she was working on was snatched from her before she could set her quill upon it.

“Hey!” She looked up to see Domi grabbing the papers and stacking them up, moving them away from Kenni. 

“What are you doing?” Kenni questioned, absolutely perplexed as to why he was packing up when they were in the home stretch of finishing. 

“Making sure they remain dry.” Domi answered simply. 

“Remain dry?” Kenni’s confusion was not long lived. For as soon as the words left her mouth, a gigantic wave crashed onto her, drenching her to the bone. 

Kenni sat, gasping like a fish. 

Domi, after neatly placing the project papers in his bag, pulled out his wand and pointed it at his shirt and bag which were slight collateral damage. He muttered something and within a second, both things were completely dry, leaving Kenni and the surrounding areas dripping. 

“I don’t believe that was the best move on your part, Black.” Domi stated simply, not looking up, before he muttered the same thing in Kenni’s direction that dried her as well. The only things that remained wet were the chair, the floor, and a bit of the table.

The now dry Kenni sat unmoving in complete shock. 

“I’ll see you around, Rowle,” Domi said dryly with a polite nod. “No need to bother meeting again. I can manage to finish on my own.” He shouldered his bag and left the library swiftly.

Kenni slowly turned to face the four boys that were the obvious perpetrators of her fury. James stood sheepishly off to the right, Remus looked apologetic in the back, Peter shook with fear on the left, and in the dead center was an overly smug Sirius Black. 

Her brown eyes burned with anger and her expression was nothing short of livid. 

“I told you that was a bad idea, Sirius.” Peter muttered, feebly. 

“Ya think?” Remus said. 

“What. The.  _ Hell _ .” Kenni’s voice shook with rage. 

Sirius didn’t look the slightest bit apologetic as he replied with a smirk. “You looked warm. I thought I would help cool you off.” 

Remus buried his head in his hand. “Oh, Merlin, help us.” 

“You thought... you would...” Kenni’s fury rose with his response. “ _ ‘Cool me off _ ’’?” 

Sirius feigned innocents. “Should I not have?” 

“Mate, quit while you’re ahead,” James muttered. 

“He’s never  _ been _ ahead,” Remus grumbled. 

“ _ SHOULD YOU NOT HAVE? _ ” Kenni yelled in anger, gaining the attention of Madame Pince. 

“I was only trying to help, Nillie, and--”

“ _ What did you just call me _ !?” Kenni’s volume lowered dangerously.

“Oh, dear Godric he’s an idiot.” Remus said to himself, closing his eyes. 

Sirius looked as though he was trying to hold back a smirk as he answered. “Nillie. I realized I needed a nickname for you and seeing as your name is  _ Kennilworthy _ , I thought it appropriate.” 

“We’re dead.” Peter mumbled as James closed his eyes, dropping his head towards the floor, and Remus buried his face in his hands, inwardly cringing. 

His response seemed to be the last straw for Kenni. She brought out her wand. 

“ _ OPPUGNO _ !” She shrieked, causing multiple nearby books to suddenly charge Sirius and whap themselves against him. It was as though some invisible beings were taking the books in their hands and repetitively hitting him as hard as they could. 

“OUCH! I just-- hey! I can’t-- HELP PLEASE!” 

James just sat back, watching, looking sympathetic with a hint of amusement. “Nah, mate, you deserve this.” 

Remus, however, tried to help by grabbing one of the books. He managed to snag one of the pages. However, the book was moving too quickly, causing the page to be violently ripped out. Remus paled as he looked at the page in his hand. 

“WHAT IN THE NAME OF HELENA’S HIPPOS IS GOING ON!?” 

Madame Pince stormed over. She was angry before that she saw her books being used in such a disgraceful way, but she gasped when she saw the page in Remus’s hand. The magical librarian put a hand on her heart as though she just witnessed someone’s death. 

Her face turned a shade of purple as her anger increased. 

“ _ IMMOBULUS _ !” She managed to work out, pointing her wand at the books. Kenni did wonder how she managed to do such a thing since she proceeded to be incapable of rendering a complete sentence in the moments that followed. 

“WHAT… HAPPENING… BOOK… LUPIN!? DISGRACED!! ROWLE… WET!? ALL OF YOU!! DETENTION… TWO WEEKS!!” 

“Two weeks?!” 

“But I didn’t do anything!” 

“It was an accident, I--”

“But he soaked me! I was only--”

“ _ SILENCE!! _ ” 

The four Gryffindor’s and the singular Slytherin’s protests halted immediately. 

“OUT!  _ NOW! _ ” Madame Pince shouted, pointing towards the door. 

Kenni groaned and snatched her bag. She marched out of the library, absolutely livid. She had come to feel semi indifferent about one Sirius Black throughout the past two years. But today… oh, today… Kenni felt nothing short of burning hate for the boy who humiliated her in the library. 

  
  



	12. NINE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the girls have some bonding time and detention beings some rather shocking revelations.

“I hate him.” 

“So you’ve said.” 

Kenni groaned at Lily’s response and rolled onto her stomach, burying her face in Alice’s pillow while Eliana herself played with Kenni’s hair, calmingly. Lily was seated on her bottom bunk with Alice who was painting her nails, Marlene was sitting on the ground next to Lily’s bunk, Morgan was in the middle of the room, lounged elegantly while she played a game of Exploding Snaps with Mara. 

Kenni didn’t know quite why she permitted Morgan to drag her along to the girl’s night that the Gryffindor’s were throwing. She supposed that she didn’t have enough willpower to say no to her, since all of her current willpower was being used to fuel her hatred for one Sirius Orion Black. 

It’s not that she doesn’t like girls nights. On the contrary. Anything beated moping around their dorm while Cassandra and Regina mocked her and Morgan for their friend choices. 

It’s just that being at the girl’s night inevitably meant catching a glimpse of a certain four boys with whom she was not happy. 

Remus had tried to apologize to her right away. As did James. But Kenni was far too preoccupied with giving both of them the silent treatment to accept their apologies. Peter was too scared of Kenni to approach her. And Sirius… well, he was smart enough to know not to go within a 12 foot radius of the angry slytherin. 

“You know,” Marlene began from her place on the floor, munching on some fudge flies. “You really shouldn’t hold it against them.” 

“I would be very careful with your next words, Mckinnon.” Kenni said slowly as she peered up from the pillow. 

“Now, now, hear me out. I mean, boys are known for their unintelligence. Being stupid is the only thing they know how to do. You take that away from them and,”--she demonstrated with a fudge fly, holding it up and then popping it into her mouth-- “they’re left with nothing!” 

“Here, here!” Mara cheered, lifting the bottle of firewhiskey they were sharing in the air.

“Doesn’t make me hate them any less,” Kenni groaned and grumbled, shoving the pillow under her chest and laying her arms on top of it. She plopped her chin on top of her hands and pouted. 

“That’s why I go for the other type,” Marlene mumbled as she grabbed the bottle of firewhiskey and took a swig. 

Lily snagged the firewhiskey from a protesting Marlene. “I disagree with you, Marls. I think what the boys did was unforgivable and Kenni has every right to despise them.” She took a sip of her own from the bottle.

“Oh, you’re just saying that because you’re glad someone finally shares your hate for James.” Eliana teased, getting up to snatch the fudge flies from Marlene. 

“Oi, get your own!” Marlene yelled, hugging her fudge flies to her chest. 

“No!” Lily responded to Eliana, making a face at her, as she passed the firewhiskey to Morgan. “I do wholeheartedly think that the boys should’ve known better than to dumb a bubble of water on Kenni while in the library.” 

“Touche.” 

Alice smiled at Kenni, kindly, as she took a gulp of the firewhiskey that Morgan handed her. “When did you say your detention was, Ken?” 

“Half an hour,” Kenni moped, taking the now nearly empty bottle from her and taking a gulp. 

“Disgusting,” Mara commented on the move Morgan just played in Exploding Saps. 

“Truly is.” Eliana nodded, applying Mara’s comment to the conversation they were having. “I mean, you didn’t even do anything!”

Kenni raised an eyebrow. “I set some books on Sirius.” 

“That was purely self defense.” 

“They had already dumped the water on me.” 

“Self defense from their stupidity. Hitting him with knowledge.” Mara chipped in, taking the firewhiskey from Kenni.

Morgan snorted, “Because we all know he doesn’t have very much of that.” 

“THAT’S WHAT I’VE BEEN SAYING!” Marlene and Lily said at the same time. 

“Shut up, Lily. We all know you’re madly in love with James.” 

“Ellis, I am not afraid to hex you.” 

Mara beamed up at her, “But you won’t because you love me too much.” 

Lily grumbled something under her breath that sounded something like “I will kill you one of these days.” 

Kenni groaned loudly, “I should probably get going.” 

“Hey, when you’re done, you can come right back here! We’ll be waiting for ya!” Alice smiled at her. 

“I’ll go get you a fresh uniform, some pajamas, and your toothbrush,” Morgan added. 

Kenni smiled. No matter how much she hated to admit it, she really did have some of the best friends. “You guys are the best.”

She grabbed her wand and started walking down the stairs. 

“GIVE BLACK A GOOD WHACK WHEN YOU GET DOWN THERE FOR ME!” Kenni heard Marlene shout. 

~*~*~

Kenni descended the stairs from the girl’s dorm and saw the boys she was looking for right away. 

She walked briskly up to Sirius and gave him a sharp whap on the head. 

“Ouch! Damn it, Rowle! What was that for?” He shouted, rubbing the back of his head and giving the perpetrator a glare. 

“That was courtesy of Mckinnon. Now are you lot ready?” Kenni said, dryly. 

“Ready as we’ll ever be,” Remus shrugged. 

Kenni nodded once at them before turning heel and walking out of the portrait. 

“Hey, you talked to us! Does this mean you’re not going to ignore us anymore?” James said hopefully as he walked out of the portrait, jogging up to Kenni to throw his arm around her. 

Kenni gave him a glare so fierce that he quickly retracted his arm and cleared his throat uncomfortably. 

“Apparently not…” 

The rest of the walk to detention was tense and quiet. A couple times, James and Sirius tried making jokes. All of their attempts were successfully shot down by a single look from Kenni. 

When they arrived at the entrance of the library, they were met by Argus Filch rather than Madam Pince like they were all expecting. Filch wore his usual sinister grin-- the one he wore when he was about to put some children through something absolutely miserable. 

“Good evening,” Sirius said with a polite grin. 

Filch sneered, “You won’t be thinkin’ this evening good for much longer.” 

“What happened to Madam Pince?” Kenni asked with an eyebrow raised. 

“Said she didn’t want ya anywhere near her books.” Filch’s cruel expression never let up. “That’s why you are going to be scrubbing every picture frame in this castle until they gleam.”

He offered them a smile that rivaled the Grinch. 

~*~*~

“You have got to be kidding me.” 

Kenni had to agree with James’s exclamation of shock as she stared at the walls absolutely littered with paintings. 

“We’re never going to be able to wash every single one of these!” Peter wailed.

Kenni concurred. She did not see it possible for them to successfully wash every single picture frame in this 10 story castle. To make matters worse, Filch took their wands. They were going to be completing this task completely by hand--with absolutely no magic involved. 

Kenni’s arms ached just thinking about how sore she was going to be two weeks from now. 

Remus sighed, “Well, she did give us two weeks…” 

“Best get to it!” Sirius said, somehow still chipper. 

He picked up his bucket of water and a sponge and walked over to the nearest portrait to begin his work. 

“Merlin’s beard…” Remus expressed, sharing a look with Kenni before they both walked over to the portraits. 

~*~*~

“Just for the record, I hate you.” Kenni glared at Sirius as her arms shook while she scrubbed. 

Filch said he’d come and get them when their time was up. Due to Peter keeping a watch, they were able to know that it had been three hours since they began. All five of them were in extreme pain. Their muscles spasmed due to being overworked. 

“Trust me,” Sirius groaned back, “I’m aware.” 

“I shouldn’t even be here! I didn’t do anything wrong!” Kenni shouted. Her self control was slowly dwindling as the time carried on. 

“Saying that will do nothing to change the fact that we have detention. Please, for the sake of all of us, quit your whining.” Peter spat, his patients wearing thin. 

Remus’s eyes widened. He made eye contact with James as Kenni’s face became red with anger. He briskly walked over to Kenni and grabbed her arm. “Hey wanna go scrub these portraits over here? Me too! Let’s go!” 

He didn’t even give her the opportunity to respond as he led her away from both Sirius and Peter and an inevitable fight. 

After they rounded the corner, Kenni began her protesting. 

“Hey! HEY! ALRIGHT THAT’S ENOUGH!” She pulled her arm out of his grasp. She crossed her arms and her lower lip jetted out in a pout. 

“I don’t need you going to fight them. If Filch were to come back right then, we would be in even more trouble.” Remus reasoned. 

Kenni sighed, not wanting to hear his logic. She was far too emotional for reason. 

Remus picked up on her inability to hear reason, and decided it best to change the subject with a sigh. He looked up from the small girl’s face and to the wall. His brow furrowed with confusion. 

“Huh…” 

Kenni looked up at him. She saw his confusion and traced his gaze to the wall. 

On the wall was a painting. It wasn’t like every other painting in the castle. This painting didn’t move. It was completely still. It was of an old man. He had deep brown eyes that had a certain indistinguishable twinkle in them. 

“That’s odd.” Kenni muttered as she took a step forward.

“That’s Merlin,” Remus said. “Why isn’t it moving?” 

Kenni was just as puzzled as Remus was. It was as though the painting was a normal muggle painting. A muggle painting of the most famous wizard known to wizardkind? That’s doubtful. 

“Hope you two aren’t snogging over here, cuz I’m coming.” Sirius spoke eloquently as he rounded the corner with James and Peter in tow. 

“What are you two staring at?” James chuckled at their confused expressions. 

The three newcomers took in the painting with equal confusion. 

“It’s not moving…” James observed. 

“But that’s--” Peter started. 

“Merlin.” Sirius completed. He looked between the painting and Kenni before chuckling. 

“What’s so funny?” Kenni voiced, exasperatedly. She was tired of Sirius’s jokes. 

“Nothing,” Sirius shrugged. “It’s just that his eyes look exactly like yours.” 

Kenni’s brow crinkled as she scrutinized the painting. Kenni absolutely loathed to admit it, but Sirius was right. His eyes were precisely like hers. They were the same chocolaty brown and held the same flecks of gold. It was bizarre. 

She took a step closer in order that she could look closer at the painting. 

She stood about a foot away from it before she stopped abruptly. Something held her captive. Her mind was not her own at that moment. The only thing she knew was that she needed to touch the frame. 

“Rowle?” Sirius asked, slightly concerned by her odd behavior. 

Whether Kenni heard Sirius or not was unknown to the onlookers. She reached forward, smoothly and slowly. Her eyes were glossed over, yet locked onto the eyes of Merlin’s. Her fingers brushed against the side of the frame. She traced the intricate designs. She pressed harder on the frame the longer she dragged her fingers. The corner of her mouth curled upwards in a cruel grin as she swiped her finger in a quick motion across a particularly sharp part of the frame, cutting her. 

She looked at her finger in awe, allowing the blood to pool on her finger, dripping off onto the floor, before reaching upwards and wiping her blood off on the painted sleeve of Merlin. 

As soon as she did, the painting took a gasp of breath, and she collapsed to the ground, passed out. 

“KENNI!” Remus shouted, rushing forward with the rest of the boys.

He rolled her over and put his fingers on her neck, checking for a pulse. A sigh of relief escaped him when he found one.

“Good afternoon?” A deep voice questioned. 

The Marauder’s eyes turned upwards to the painting of Merlin who was now peering down at them curiously. 

“Is she the one who woke me?” The old man asked in a relaxed way. 

“Merlin’s beard…” Sirius mumbled, voicing the absolute bafflement that all four of the boys felt. 

  
  



	13. TEN

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Sirius Black takes a trip to the infirmary and Albus Dumbledor is as cryptic as usual.

Sirius Orion Black had absolutely no clue as to why he was the slightest bit concerned about the wellbeing of one Kennilworthy Magnus Rowle. After all, she had clearly expressed her dislike of him and told him nearly every opportunity she saw fit. 

But when he saw her hit the ground, her hand dripping with blood, he couldn’t help but be concerned. In hindsight, he brushed it off as simply reacting in accordance with his friends; seeing Remus and James rush to her aid was more than enough to send him running to the fallen girl as well...wasn’t it? 

Oh, Remus. He was Sirius’s favorite excuse for his particular attention on the Slytherin girl. Remus was the exact excuse he used while he waited by Kenni’s bedside in the infirmary. 

He sat there and fiddled with his wand. He wasn’t exactly supposed to be there. But, there he sat anyways. He borrowed James’s invisibility cloak and used it to sneak in when the last visitors were leaving. He hobbled over to the chair beside Kenni and plopped himself down. In this circumstance, Remus was an apt excuse, for the boy did beg Sirius to go and watch over Kenni. Remus would’ve been here himself, except he had… a “furry little problem” (as James liked to call it) to deal with.

Sirius had agreed, finding himself actually concerned about the girl, to his dismay. So, there he sat, fiddling with his wand and doodling in the air. 

Kenni hadn’t woken up. Occasionally she’d stirr. Here and there she muttered something in her sleep. She kept repeating something about a “switch” and “Uncleve”. Whenever she said that, Sirius noticed her forehead gain a little crease, right between her brows, as if she were distressed. Every now and again, she would say her friends' names, such as Eliana, Morgan, Remus, and James. Her face would still maintain this worried expression. Once she heard her mutter his name. He paid close attention to her then. Not to mention when he heard her say it, he jumped a mile because he thought she had woken up. At that moment, he was very happy no one else was there to witness, because he knew if James had been there, he would’ve taken the piss out of him. 

When she said his name, her face didn’t look content like she did when she said her other friend’s names, nor did it look distressed when she said the thing about a “switch” and “uncleve” 

She just looked confused, yet angry. As she should. Sirius didn’t blame her. He did cause her a bit of strife. Granted, he thought it was absolutely hilarious. The look on her face after he pranked her, the way her nose scrunched and her brows furrowed, caused this little bubble to form in his chest that only escaped in the form of laughter. 

He sat there, when he heard footsteps approaching from outside the hall. He panicked and hastily threw the cloak over him and removed himself from the chair. He dove under her bed for good measure. 

And just in time, too. For the moment Sirius’s chest hit the ground with a thud, the infirmary doors opened and Albus Dumbledor followed by Horance Slughorn entered, walking briskly over to Kenni’s bed. 

Madame Pomphry came into the room from her room as well, joining the two professors at the foot of the girl’s bed. 

“What exactly happened, Poppy?” Sirius heard Dumbledor ask. 

“According to the boys who brought her in, she was put under some sort of trance when she approached the Merlin painting on the fifth floor. She cut her finger and then proceeded to pass out. They were all in detention.” Madame Pomphry’s soprano voice spoke up. 

There was a long, thick pause. Sirius could hear his heart in his ears as he laid under the bed. He made sure to breath as softly as he could, as not to draw attention to him. The pause was interrupted by one Professor Slughorn. 

“Albus, you don’t think--” 

“I do, my friend. The vaults rules were clear. Only the one with the blood of Merlin running through their veins would be able to unlock their secrets.” 

“But… Merlin’s only descendant was a--” 

“Yes,” Dumbledor answered, with a sad tone to his voice. “And that was what caused her demise. Voldemort couldn’t have let her live. But he didn’t succeed in vanquishing her before she had a successor.” 

“Albus, I thought Miss Rowle was--” 

“My dear Horace, you were told incorrectly. However, it is vital that we keep this incorrect information in place of the truth. For the truth in this situation could cause harm to many. Do you understand what I am trying to say?”

“I do… I just--” 

At this point, Sirius tuned out. Their conversation made Sirius rather confused. Merlin? Successor? Vaults? His head pounded while he tried to piece together this puzzle. It was as though he were trying to make out a giant portrait but could only look at it through a toilet paper roll while standing 2 centimeters away. In other words, nothing made sense. 

When Sirius tuned back in, there was a long silence that was, once again, broken by Slughorn, his voice barely above a whisper. 

“I-is she... _ safe _ ?” 

Although, the way he worded it didn’t make it sound like he was concerned for the safety of the girl. The professor sounded as though he were worried for  _ himself _ . That alone would’ve made Sirius confused, however mixed in with all this other information, his head felt like mush. 

“You said that Remus Lupin, James Potter, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew were the ones to bring her in, is that correct, Poppy?” Dumbledor questioned gently. 

“Yes, sir.” 

“If those are the people she chooses to surround herself with, then I see no reason to believe her moral wellbeing will have a negative outcome. Let’s just pray that their friendship continues…” Dumbledor’s voice was ominous, yet soft, as if afraid of scaring him off. 

Dumbledor sighed. 

“I wouldn’t mind a spot of tea, Poppy, if you’re able.” Dumbledor said. 

“Y-yes, sir,” she sounded thrown off by the sudden mood switch. 

“Horace, care to join us?” Dumbledor’s now chipper tone addressed the Slytherin head of house. 

Slughorn sounded deeply troubled in his reply, “No, I think I would rather go to bed. I have a lot to think over.” 

“Mmm. Right. Perhaps another time.”

“Yes… yes, right. Another time…” 

“Goodnight, Horace.” 

“Mmm… yes… goodnight, Albus…” 

Sirius watched Slughorn’s shoes as he left the room. 

“Now, how about that tea?” Dumbledor said to Madame Pomfrey. 

Sirius dubbed the entire exchange that he just witnessed as, in a word, odd. His mind felt simultaneously overloaded with so much information and absolutely nothing at all. He just laid there for a moment, trying to make sense of what he heard. His brain was trying to piece together a puzzle that lacked 2/3rds of the pieces. 

Little did he know, he wasn’t the only eavesdropper… 

~*~*~  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N
> 
> TWINKLE TWINKLE LITTLE STAR  
> WHY IS SCHOOL SO FUCKING HARD
> 
> CAN SOMEONE PLEASE EXPLAIN TO ME WHY MY ENGLISH TEACHER THINKS IT'S OKAY TO ASSIGN 4 ESSAYS WITHIN THE FIRST TWO WEEKS?? THIS MAN IS INSANE, Y’ALL. IN-FUCKING-SANE. 
> 
> Anyways. 
> 
> This is how I imagine sirius in this chapter lmfao: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlOTNtUvhe8
> 
> ANYWAYS IM SORRY THIS IS CRAPPY!! I’VE LACKED MOTIVATION AND TIME AND I PROMISE I WILL TRY TO UPDATE AS OFTEN AS I POSSIBLY CAN!! 
> 
> I hope you all are doing well, my darling readers. <3
> 
> Stay safe and stay strong! 
> 
> \- Kate


	14. ELEVEN

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Sirius and Kenni begin to understand one another and some certain Slytherins are absolute pricks.

Kenni woke up to someone frantically poking her side.

The prick kept poking her and eventually worked their way to jabbing her in her stomach causing her to squeal as it tickled. Reflexively, she swung her hand and smacked whoever was committing the incessant poking. 

There was a loud smack and then a groan. 

Kenni realized what she just did and immediately went to apologize. She opened her mouth to speak, but the person spoke before she could get a word out, causing her voice to die in her throat.

“Merlin’s twisty nipple, Rowle!” 

“Oh,” Kenni deadpanned as she saw Sirius Black clutching his cheek. “It’s just you. I was going to apologize, but you deserved it.” 

Sirius shot her a glare, turning his face to look at her. “I deserved getting physically abused because I woke you up? That seems a bit harsh, even for you.” 

“You dumped water on me in the middle of the library and got us two weeks worth of detentions. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t even be in this bed right now.” She spat, sitting up lightly. 

Sirius’s brow furrowed. He removed his hand from his cheek, revealing a very satisfying red handprint. He gave her an indignant look. “I was trying to make you laugh.” 

Kenni’s jaw dropped. This bitch…

“You have a really deranged sense of humor if you think that publicly humiliating me will cause me to laugh.” Her voice was laced with venom. 

Sirius rolled his eyes and shrugged. “I was attempting to come at it from all angles.” 

“You absolute gormless, manky--” 

“Look, Rowle, as much as I love debating the morality of my actions, that’s not why I woke you. Dumbledor and Slughorn came in while you were out. They were talking and said some things that I thought you should hear.” 

That stopped her. The headmaster and her head of house? Why would they care that she got a little scratch on her hand? It wasn’t like it was fatal. 

She thought back to the event that caused her to end up in the infirmary in the first place and she found herself stopped. She knew that it was far more than just a simple scratch. She had lost control of herself. Thinking of how the still painting seemed as though it were looking down, directly at her sent a shiver down her spine. 

She allowed her anger at the boy to be forgotten for a time and she relaxed. 

“Alright. Go on.” 

Sirius sighed, letting his tensed muscles release as he sat on the chair next to her bed. 

“Remus made me come here. He insisted, you know how he is. I couldn’t say no. So I came up here and sat here for two useless hours. You know you talk in your sleep? Speaking of, what’s an ‘uncleve’?”

Kenni paled and snapped sharply, “Black, stay on topic.” 

“Blimey, alright, alright! Don’t get your panties in a twist.” 

“If I were you, I’d keep my mind as far away from my panties as possible.” 

“Godrick, you’re feisty today. If I’d have known you were like this when someone woke you up then I would’ve just--” 

“ _ Black, _ ” Kenni said warningly.

Sirius chuckled at his antagonizing. “Anyways, I was sitting for two hours listening to you babble when in came Dumbledor and ol’ Sluggie came in. I dove under your bed and hid using-- er… James’s… spare blanket. I heard everything they said. They talked about your fit and then Slug started to ask something but Dumbledor interrupted him, saying something about vaults and how ‘Only the one with the blood of Merlin running through their veins would be able to unlock their secrets’.” 

Kenni’s heart practically stopped. Vaults? Blood of Merlin? What does that have to do with her? She looked at the thin blanket covering her lap, searching it for the answers to her confusion. 

“That’s not all. Slughorn started to say how he thought you were… something,” 

Kenni’s heart absolutely bottomed out right there. She looked sharply at him, her eyes wide. Her anxiety spiked and every muscle in her body tensed.

Sirius saw her reaction and his eyes went wide as he hastily corrected himself, “But I don’t know what he was going to say, because Dumbledor interrupted him again. He said that the truth was supposed to be kept away, or something. That it didn’t matter and that the lie was more important for everyone’s safety.” 

Kenni let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding as relief filled her. Her gaze returned to her lap, as if not looking at him will erase the suspicious behavior she just exhibited. 

Sirius leaned forward, examining her completely odd switch. He tilted his head so he could catch her gaze. When Sirius spoke, his tone was so gentle, Kenni had to double check that it was actually Sirius sitting next to her. She didn’t know he was capable of such softness. 

“Kenni, what secret were they talking about?” 

Her heart rate skyrocketed as he asked the question that she dreaded. Her deep brown eyes flicked to his bright greys. In her eyes, he could see the struggle that she had. For a brief moment, Kennilworthy Switch let down her facade of poise and allowed him to see the anxiety ridden, scared little girl that she really was. 

For a long time, she didn’t answer him. She toyed with herself. She couldn’t tell him. She knew she couldn’t. But, oh how she wanted to. She desperately wanted someone to share this burden with. 

Eliana knew, of course, but it was very difficult to talk about this with her. Kenni didn’t know where to start with her. It was as though their long history as friends made it difficult for this new Kenni to express the pain she was in. if she could tell Sirius, then maybe,  _ just maybe _ , she could have a clean slate--a new start. 

But she couldn’t. She couldn’t put him at risk like that. Knowing him, it could doom him. Not only that, but he’d probably hate her for the fact that she lied. She could never tell him that she wasn’t actually a pureblood. That her muggle mother had been killed by death eaters. He hated purebloods, Kenni knew that. But if he found out that she denied who she truly was so that she could assume the identity of the very thing he hated… 

Not to mention if Sirius slipped up and her secret got out, she wouldn’t be the only one in danger. She couldn’t put her god family through that. Never in a million years.

“Dumbledor was right, Sirius. It’s for the safety of everyone that the truth remains buried.” Her tone was so broken and quiet, it took Sirius aback. Frankly, he wasn’t aware that Kenni could feel anything outside of anger and offense. 

“Kenni--” 

“What else did they say, Black?” Kenni tore her gaze away from his and looked at the wall straight ahead of her. 

“But--” 

“ _ What else did they say _ ?” 

Sirius sighed, dropping it for now, but making a mental note to try and figure it out later. He’s not letting her off that easy. He just witnessed the girl he thought to be emotionless and unfeeling to carry more weight than anyone he’d ever known. Well… besides Remus, of course. 

“They talked about if you were safe. But it sounded more like they were discussing if you were… safe to be around rather than your wellbeing.”

Kenni continued to stare straight ahead. “And?”

“Dumbledor said that you were, so long as you stayed friends with me, James, Rem, and Pete.” 

“Was that it?” 

Sirius nodded, then remembered that she wasn’t looking at him. “Yeah,” 

Kenni continued to stare straight ahead. She tried to focus on one spot on the wall. It seemed to be some sort of scratch in the stone of some sort. Kenni didn’t know. But she tried to stare at it in an attempt to calm her racing mind and raging emotions. 

She felt entirely overwhelmed. On top of the secret of her true lineage, she had the weight of her trance, something about vaults related to Merlin, the potential of her being dangerous, and other regular 13 year old problems weighing on her shoulders. She attempted to push it down and re-cage the emotions that she had had locked away. But, it was hard to do that when the beast that was her secrets were staring her in the eye. She couldn’t bring herself to look away. 

She jumped when she felt Sirius’s hand on hers. 

She tore her gaze from the grey of the wall and settled into the grey of his eyes. His stare was intense. It caught her so by surprise that she couldn’t bring herself to look away. She thought Sirius hated her. No, he  _ did _ hate her. Which is why, as his eyes searched her face for some sort of clue to unlock the great mystery that was her life, she found herself entranced. 

“Kenni,” He began, his tone deep and serious. “Whatever it is you’re going through, you don’t have to go through it alone.”

Kenni looked at his hand which held hers tightly. She found her squeezing his hand back in spite of herself. 

When her eyes looked up into his again, Sirius saw they were full of tears as she whispered, 

“Yes I do.” 

~*~*~

Sylas Avery was released from the infirmary the morning after Kenni was admitted. He had had an unfortunate fall off his broom at Quidditch practice two days before, causing him to shatter his femur. Due to it being such a large bone, he was forced to be in the hospital for three days. 

The entire time he had mostly spent by himself. His sister had come once or twice to see him, but other than that, he was alone. He had found the entire situation rather boring and loathsome until he had heard all that was exchanged between the professors and students.

The second he was permitted to leave, he was on a mission. He marched straight to the library where he knew he would find the object of his searching. 

Lucius Malfoy.

Lucius was sitting alone, reading a book. Perfect. 

Silas walked up and plopped himself across from the boy. Lucius looked up from his book, completely unphased at the Avery twin’s sudden appearance. 

Silas looked around to make sure they didn’t have any listeners before he spoke. 

“We need to talk.” 

Lucius arched a pale eyebrow. “Can’t it wait?”

Silas, continued to survey the area around them. “You won’t want it to wait when you hear who it’s about.”

Lucius looked bored, as he turned the page of his book. “And who might that be?” 

“Kennilworthy Rowle.” 

Lucius’s gaze snapped to Silas and he gave him a wicked grin. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:
> 
> Howdy, my beautiful people! I hope you like this chapter!
> 
> I hope you all are doing well! 
> 
> Stay safe and stay strong! 
> 
> Kate


	15. TWELVE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Lily and Eliana overhear two slinky Slytherins discussing their best friend.

Eliana Pyper and Lily Evans would like it to be known that they are  _ not _ ones to eavesdrop. 

They respect people and their privacy and will leave people to have their private conversations in peace. They are not gossips. They are trustworthy souls who can keep secrets without a second thought. 

However, when Eliana overheard two  _ un _ trustworthy souls discussing her dearest friend Kenni in the library, she couldn’t help but listen in. 

“And who might that be?” 

“Kennilworthy Rowle,”

Eliana’s hand stopped reaching for the book. She listened intently.

Lily saw her friend stop at the bookshelf and looked at her curiously.

“El? Wh--” 

“ _ Shh _ !” Eliana shushed her, quietly and gestured for her to stand next to her. They both leaned on the bookshelf as they listened to the two slytherins continue their suspicious conversation.

“Kennilworthy Rowle, you say?” Lucius’s voice slithered, “You do have my attention.” 

“You know she was in the infirmary?” The raspy notes that belonged to none other than Silas Avery prodded into Lily’s ears. She clutched the book closer to her chest as she leaned against the shelf and exchanged a look with Eliana. 

They could practically hear Lucius’s disappointment, “Is that all? Oh, I was hoping for more--” 

“Dumbledor and Slughorn paid her a visit last night.” Silas interrupted, finished with his dramatics. 

There was a long pause before Lucius spoke. “I see,” 

Eliana stood on her tiptoes to peep through the tiny gap between books and the shelf above at the boys. Lucius’s back was to her, lounging in the library seat with his feet propped up on the table. Silas was standing in front of him as though he were a peasant relaying information to his superior. 

“Go on,” Lucius gestured to him. 

Silas rolled his head back on his neck. “I heard them talking. Dumbledor said something about her…” He paused theatrically, a smile creeping onto his face as his tongue danced across his bottom lip, mockingly. “...having Merlin’s blood.” 

Lucius quickly swung his feet off the table and stood up.

“You better not be joking, Avery, or I swear--” 

Silas was unphased by the older boy’s reaction and simply chuckled humorlessly. 

“Why would I joke about such a thing? You and I both know what the Dark Lord has been after--” 

“Yes, but you know because you overheard daddy talking and I know because the Dark Lord discussed it with me, himself. Don’t forget your place, Avery.” Lucius snapped, sick of Silas’s antics. 

Silas’s smile was wiped from his face and he gulped. 

Lucius looked at the ground and began pacing, his hand stroking his chin, in deep thought, before turning sharply and pointing at Silas. 

“You. I need you to keep a good eye on her. Your sister dorms with her, correct? Watch her carefully. We need to be 100% sure before we go to the Dark Lord for something like this. If you’re wrong and we relayed the wrong information…” Lucius shuddered. 

Silas nodded. 

Eliana stepped away from the bookcase and Lily joined her, both unable to listen further. Their eyes were wide with fear of the new information they heard. 

Eliana spun, picking up her books and her parchment. Lily rounded the table and followed in suit. 

Eliana spun, about to sprint out of the library before Lily caught her arm. 

Lily mouthed, ‘ _ Slowly,’ _ to the Hufflepuff before both walking out from their row with her chin held high, looking as confident and as cool as could be. 

Eliana took a deep breath before running after Gryffindor counterpart as though she were trying to catch up with her. 

They walked placidly out of the library, both looking back to see that neither of the Slytherins were following before they raced off. 

Unfortunately, if they would’ve looked back right before they rounded the corner, they would have seen one Silas Avery immerging, bearing witness to their frightened run. He knew immediately that they had heard. 

He cursed and spun back into the library to inform Lucius. 

~*~*~

“They said  _ what _ !?” James shouted in outrage after hearing the information that Eliana and Lily overheard. 

“James, calm down.” Kenni voiced, rather calmly. “And that’s all?” 

“‘ _ That’s all’ _ ?! Really?! That doesn’t scare you at all?!” Lily said, aghast at her friend’s complete lack of emotion. 

Kenni just sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, leaning forward off the tree and resting her hands on her knees. The book on the wizards and witches of Atlantis that she had been pleasure reading was temporarily set aside. 

“It actually makes everything that’s happened make a lot more sense.” She looked over to Sirius briefly who shared the same newfound understanding as her. 

Sirius, Kenni, Morgan, and James had been lounging outside by their tree when Lily and Eliana came gasping forward. Remus and Mara were off doing god knows what. And Marlene and Alice were off on a double date at Hogsmeade, Marlene started dating a girl named Mary Macdonald and Alice was dating a boy a year her senior named Frank Longbottom. Kenni was thankful that they weren’t around right now. She was fairly certain that, if they were, Mara, Marlene, and Alice would band together to go murder some Slytherins. Not that Kenni cared about Silas or Lucius in the slightest, but rather she just preferred if the people she cared about stayed out of Azkaban. 

James had been absolutely outraged by the new onslaught of information that Eliana and Lily provided and continued to curse the names of those Slytherin boys under his breath. 

Sirius sat, obviously disgruntled about the situation, but now he has a sort of mild understanding of the conversation that he had overheard in the infirmary that he didn’t have previously.

Kenni and Sirius had come to some sort of odd understanding that night in the infirmary. It wasn’t quite friendship, but they were more than acquaintances. Sirius saw a lot of himself in Kenni. She probably would have seen a lot of herself in him, too, if she wasn’t so focused on her overwhelming circumstances. Yet, despite the fact that Sirius had gained a newfound level of understanding and appreciation for the girl, doesn’t mean he trusted her.

I mean, the girl stood for all that he disagreed with. Not only was she everything he disagreed with, but she was everything he was running from. She was stoic and worn. She was a Slytherin. She came from a pureblood household. She was extremely self conscious. He knew that she kept secrets--more secrets than he could comprehend. He couldn’t completely trust someone with that many secrets, save Remus Lupin, because that boy wouldn’t hurt a fly. 

Morgan, on the other hand, took the news and it sent fear straight through her entire body. Her parents weren’t death eaters, yet they were firm supporters of You-Know-Who, much like Sirius’s parents. She heard talk of the “Dark Lord” needing someone who descended from Merlin. She could only imagine the fate for Kenni. She shuddered thinking about it and said no words. 

“Kenni, I'm not sure if you heard us right.” Eliana pressed, “We said that Avery believes you’re a descendant of Merlin and is setting his sister on you. Please tell me that he’s wrong, Ken. Please.” 

Kenni looked up, looking exhausted. She subconsciously rubbed the scar on her finger that waking Merlin’s portrait had left. “I wish I could, El, but I don’t even know myself. This is the third time I’ve heard anything about me having some sort of connection to Merlin in two days. I’ve never heard anything about it before. Also, he’s not ‘ _ setting his sister on me’ _ . She’s my roommate and is being forced to watch what I say. Jokes on them because I know just as much as they do about the matter.” 

Sirius looked over to Kenni with a soft gaze. “I know someone who might have more information.” 

“Dumbledor?” 

“McGonagall?” 

“Slughorn?” 

“Pince?”

“Flitwick?”

“Sprout?” 

“Filch-- wait…” 

Sirius waved off Eliana and James, looking equally annoyed and amused by his friend’s antics. “Merlin’s elbow, guys, stop just listing professors! Although I’m sure they would know something, too.” The soft smile that was on his face fell as his eyes shot to Kenni’s. His grey eyes looked bright and alert as he stared into her deep chocolates. 

“I was thinking more along the lines of the one and only Chevalier Rowle.”


	16. THIRTEEN

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a certain Gryffindor confronts a certain Slytherin about their procrastination.

It was no secret that one of the reasons Kenni, Remus, and Morgan got on so well was their shared love of books. They loved it for the same reason as well. They loved reading books to escape the world that they live in. Escape the stress, prejudices, and responsibilities of the world. They each would read a separate book and then do a three way trade when they were finished.

They often sat in the library together reading. There was a large, plush chair that sat in the corner of the Hogwarts library. Remus quite often lounged on it with Morgan laying herself across the top of the wide, cushioned seat back. Kenni usually sat on the floor leaning against Remus’s legs in one way or another. 

It was in this position that Sirius Black found his three friends about a week after Sirius brought up owling Chevalier. Kenni hated the idea of writing to her father. She continued to put it off. Sirius was adamant. So was Lily. Kenni did her best to avoid both of them. 

Sirius Black walked into the library and found his three friends engrossed in their books. Kenni was so focused on the Diary of a Salem Witch that she was reading that she didn’t notice Sirius approaching until he cleared his throat. 

Kenni looked up with an eyebrow raised at the person who  _ dared _ interrupt her reading and paled slightly when she saw the dark Gryffindor. 

“Oh.”

“‘ _ Oh _ ’, indeed.” Sirius crossed his arms, looking at her like a parent looks at a child who was denying having eaten all the cookies in the jar even though they had copious amounts of chocolate smears on their face. “You’ve been avoiding me.” 

“Have I?”

“Nillie.” 

“Don’t call me that.” 

Sirius rolled his eyes and uncrossed his arms. “Have you written yet?” 

“Possibly,” Kenni lied, picking up her bookmark and marking her place before respectfully closing it. 

Sirius threw back his head and groaned in exasperation. “ _ Nilly! _ ”

“Black, I told you not to call me--”

“I love you two dearly, but could you please relocate your conversation?” Morgan asked mildly annoyed, but still sweet.

“Yes, please. I cannot focus with you two continuing to yap back and forth.” Remus sassed, not looking away from his book. 

“It’s fine. Sirius wasn’t going to stay much longer anyways.” Kenni quipped matter-of-factly, flipping her hair over her shoulder and reopening her book that was quickly swiped from her hands. 

“You’re right. I’m not staying. Neither are you.” Sirius declared, snapping the book shut and holding it up, above his shoulder. 

“Sirius Orion Black, if you don’t give me back my book--” Kenni threatened, looking dangerous. 

Sirius was not intimidated. “You can get it back after we talk. Now come along!”

He ushered her towards him with his hand, smiling chipperly, before he turned on his heel and headed towards the library entrance.

Kenni huffed and gathered her things. “I blame you two.” 

Morgan sent her an apologetic look, but Remus didn’t look up from his book as he retorted, his voice dripping in sarcasm, “Oh no. How will I live.” 

“Piss off, Lupin.” 

“Not right now, I’m reading.”

“Rub it in, why don’t ya?”

“That sounded sexual.” 

“ _ Remus! _ ”

“Nilly, I’m going to keep this book if you don’t start walking over here in the next 3 seconds.” Sirius shouted after Kenni, causing Madam Pince (who still very much disliked him) to shush him violently.

“You should go. I have yet to read that book and I would very much like to.” Remus turned the page of his book.

“I hate you,” Kenni spat, annoyed at her friend as she aggressively shouldered her bag.

“Get in line.”

Morgan looked down at her friend with concern, “Remus...”

“ _ Nillie!! _ ” 

“MERLIN, BLACK, I’M COMING!”

With one last glare at her friends, she spun around and stormed to a mildly amused Sirius who gestured towards the door. 

Kenni stomped down the hall at a quick pace, causing Sirius to have to jog to catch up. 

“Why are you in such a rush to get away from me?” 

“Because I’m none too happy with you, Black.” 

“I’ve gathered as much.” He nodded, as he walked next to her. 

Kenni scoffed, “Must’ve been hard work, considering your brain is the size of a pea.” She sniffed, pushing past a group of Ravenclaws who were in a huddle, giggling like bimbos as Sirius walked by. He winked at the girls and followed Kenni out towards the Black Lake.

“Doling out insults? How very Slytherin of you.” He grinned at her, his hands in his pockets. 

“Stereotyping? How very Gryffindor of you.” 

Sirius laughed at her comment, “Oh, Nilly, Nilly, Nilly. If you only knew the truth, you wouldn’t say such things.” 

Kenni let out a mocking laugh, “Oh, I highly doubt that. Also, continue to call me ‘Nillie’ and I will--” 

“I’m sure you will.” Sirius rudely interrupted, uninterested. He took a few steps then stopped in front of her. “But empty threats aren’t going to make me give you back your book, now is it?”

She squinted at him, “How very bold of you to assume they’re empty.” 

Sirius smirked a little before his face fell and he sobered. “Why haven’t you written him yet?”

Kenni exhaled sharply and crossed her arms, looking away like a child. “I never said I didn’t write.”

Sirius gave her an expression that informed Kenni that he did not buy into her words. “You didn’t have to. You’re obviously lying.” 

Kenni raised an eyebrow and glared at him. “How do you know?”

Sirius sighed, not interested in playing her games. “Nillie, why haven’t you written?” 

Kenni looked away, stubbornly staying silent. 

Sirius pinched the bridge of his nose, “Fine. Don’t say. It doesn’t matter to me if you owl your dad or not. I’m not the one who dark wizards are stalking.” He sighed and started to walk away. 

Kenni sighed sharply and closed her eyes tightly, “I haven’t written.”

Sirius stops and turns around, unamused. “Glad you can admit it.” 

Kenni went on as if Sirius hadn’t said anything, “I haven’t written because…I’m scared.”

Her voice was gentle and barely above a whisper, revealing her deep vulnerability. 

Sirius walked back in front of her, “Why?”

Her deep, brown, doe-eyes looked up to him, full of raw emotion. They locked eyes for a moment before she turned her gaze to the grass at their feet.

Sirius had known there was more to her not writing than simple forgetfulness. Kenni wasn’t forgetful. Not at all. Ever since the night in the hospital, he had been able to understand her a little better. Her reservation and sarcastic nature seemed to make more sense. 

There was a long pause before she answered. “I’m scared of what he might say… learning about why he kept it from me. I’m afraid of how he might react to me finding out and… and…”

She let out a shaky breath, she blinked tears from her eyes. She was so overwhelmed. She had kept all of her thoughts, stressors, and feelings bottled up. She didn’t want to share them for many reasons. It was like a steel tank being filled with water. The tank of her chest kept being filled with more and more emotional water and soon the pressure caused the smallest give in her tough exterior, causing the metal casing to burst. 

She tried so, so hard to hold back the tears, but to no avail. They just blatantly disobeyed her direct order to not fall and raced down her cheeks. She kept her gaze on the floor, looking anywhere but the boy in front of her or the passing people. 

Sirius Black didn’t usually know how to react to tears. They made him uncomfortable. He often tried to wain tears with laughter by telling jokes. But there Kenni stood, failing to refrain from crying. Her shoulders were hunched as opposed to her usual proud stance. She looked so tired, defeated, and stressed...and so desperately in need of a hug. And a hug is exactly what Sirius gave her. 

Sirius wrapped his arms around the girl. At first she tensed, surprised by the sudden contact, but soon relaxed and hugged him back, unable to restrain herself any further. She cried. 

He sighed, “Oh, Nillie. What am I going to do with you?” As she sobbed into his shoulder, he squeezed her tighter with every sob that wracked her body. Due to them not having much of a height difference at their 13 years of age, Sirius’s chin rested on her shoulder. After a moment of her quiet sobs, Sirius let out a small chuckle. 

Kenni looked up at him, confused. “What?” 

Sirius shrugged, “I called you ‘Nillie’ and you didn’t threaten me.” 

She scoffed and pushed him away, crossing her arms. 

He chuckled again, “Alright, I’m sorry. Not the time. Now, come here and let me comfort you.” He brought her back into a hug, which she accepted and just cried, needing to get the tears out of her system. 

They stood there and held one another for a few, long minutes. 

“Aw, look! It’s ickle Blackie with his ickle Rowle! Hanging around blood traitors, Rowle? Doesn’t make for a good image.” 

Sirius and Kenni pulled apart and turned to face Lucius Malfoy who came strutting forward alone. Kenni quickly wiped at her eyes and put her shoulders back, standing proudly. She managed to force shut the steel casing surrounding her emotions. 

“All alone, Malfoy?” Sirius spat, “My dear cousin couldn’t stand to spend another moment around you, could she?” 

Lucius ignored him and looked at Kenni. He raised an eyebrow as an amused smirk. “Rowle, were you  _ crying _ ? Oh, that’s rich. And crying on the shoulder of  _ Sirius Black _ , for that matter! Your dear, old daddy isn’t going to like this.”

“Malfoy--” Sirius spoke through clenched teeth, his knuckles becoming white in his tightly clenched fists. Fury radiated off of him like heat from the sun. Seeing this and knowing his temper has only ever gotten him into trouble, Kenni spoke up, calmly. 

“Lucius, don’t you have anything better to do than patronize two 13 year olds? I’m not sure you knew, but picking on kids 3 years younger than you isn’t very mature of you.” 

He sneered. “I’m merely stating that you would do better to change the company you keep,  _ Rowle _ . You’d do well to listen to me. Heard your little friends overheard a private conversation of mine. I’m sure you’ve been informed of it?”

Kenni clenched her jaw in anger as she fibbed. “I haven’t the faintest idea what you’re talking about.” 

“Oh, but I think you do.” He drawled with a wicked smirk. “Talked to daddy recently? Ever wondered who killed your  _ mother _ , Kennilworthy?”

Kenni glared at him, her expression nothing but violent loathing, but his words hitting their intended mark. Sirius saw his friend’s change and figured that Lucius had struck a nerve. Sirius snarled like a dog and pulled out his wand, pointing it at Lucius. 

Lucius pulled his wand at the boy in retaliation. Both were in a heated stare. Kenni pulled out her wand, but sat back. Afraid to get involved, but scared for her friend. 

“Why don’t you go crawl back into the disgusting hole that you came from before I hex you into oblivion?” Sirius fumed. There was a long, tense silence 

Lucius taunted, “You’ll get what’s coming to you,  _ blood traitor _ .” His eyes flicked to Kenni. “And you… I’d be careful of the company you keep,  _ Rowle _ . From what I’ve heard, things will be changing rather rapidly for you.” 

Lucius spun on his heel and began to walk away. Sirius lowered his wand, above cursing someone with their back turned.

“ _ Melofors _ .  _ Orbis _ .” 

Before Sirius could blink, Lucius’s head was turned into a pumpkin and he was swallowed into the ground with only his now pumpkin, encased head standing above the ground, emanating muffled screaming. He turned to Kenni who had her want pointed at Lucius, obviously not above cursing someone with his back turned. She looked absolutely furious. 

Seeing Sirius’s awe-struck expression, she blushed realizing what she just did. She shoved her wand back in her robes and looked away.

“What can I say…I like pumpkins.” 

Sirius beamed at the Slytherin next to him, who’s eyes were still slightly puffy from crying. He threw his arm around her shoulders. 

“Nilly, you’re alright, you know that?” 

Kenni’s face was still faintly flushed as she looked away from him, “I’ve known for years. Glad to see you’ve finally caught up.”

He let out a barking laugh and rubbed her shoulder as they started to walk away. After a few steps, Sirius turned to Kenni.

“Nillie,” Sirius began, seriously. 

“Yes, Rius?”

Sirius crinkled his nose. “‘Rius’?”

Kenni shrugged, “I was trying to come up with a nickname in retaliation. It didn’t work. Anyways, you were saying?” 

“Right, well, before  _ Malfoy _ came and interrupted us, I was going to ask you if you wanted me to write the letter with you. You know, so you can get it finished and you don’t have to do yet another thing by yourself.” He said leisurely. 

Seeing Kenni’s odd look, he raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“You… help me write a letter… to my father… with me?” 

“Rather awkward phrasing, but yes, that is more or less what I said, isn’t it?”

“Oh.” 

“Why is that so unbelievable?” 

Kenni shrugged, “Well, it’s surprising, ya know, since you dislike me so strongly--”

Sirius’s head whipped to look at her and retracted his arm from around her shoulders in order to bring her to a stop.

“For someone so, extremely observant, you sure can manage to make up the oddest things in your head.” 

“Pardon me?”

Sirius shook his head, “I don’t know how you managed to get the idea that I hate you, but I assure you it’s not the case at all.” 

She rolled her eyes, “Sure, because non-stop pranks are certainly a sign of affection.” 

Sirius’s brow furrowed, “All the pranks I’ve pulled on you has been to try and get some sort of reaction other than a scowle out of you.” 

“And how did that work for you?” 

Sirius sighed and rolled his eyes, “Nillie, that’s not the point. My point is I don’t hate you in the slightest and I want to help you.” 

Kenni just stared at him for a long moment, working out a response. 

In the span of a week, Sirius Black had managed to go from someone she strongly disliked to a friend. A good friend. She was perplexed, but everything in her knew that she needed help and screamed for her to accept. 

He sensed her hesitation and put a hand on her shoulder. 

“Nillie, I want to help you.” 

After her pause she slowly nodded and muttered, “Okay.”

He smiled at her before tilting his head in the direction of the library. “Let’s go, then.” 

She let out a shaky breath and nodded again. 

He threw an arm around her shoulders leading them off in the direction of the library. 

“Don’t you think for a second that this means that I forgive you for dumping water on me in the library.” Kenni amended.

“The thought never dared cross my mind.” 

“And just because I let you call me ‘Nilly’ a few times doesn’t mean I like it or that I’m letting you use that as a permanent nickname.” 

“Of course not.” 

“And just because I haven’t hexed you yet doesn’t mean you don’t have one in store for you in the future.” 

“I will anxiously await it.” 

“You better.”

He grinned boyishly at her. 

And, for the first time ever that Sirius had seen since they started Hogwarts, the corners of Kenni’s mouth inched up in a smile as well.

They walked a while in a comfortable, content silence. As they neared the library, Kenni spoke up again.

“Sirius?”

He sighed, leaning his head back, still smiling. “Yes, Nillie?” 

“Can I have my book back now?” 

He smirked, “Let’s get this letter written first.” 

Her smile fell. 

He barked a laugh at her face and squeezed her shoulders. 

“I hate you,” she frowned.

“No, you don’t.” 

She couldn’t even argue, because she knew he was right.

Kennilworthy Margret Portia Celeste Switch-Rowle did not hate Sirius Orion Black III. She did not hate him at all.

~*~*~


	17. FOURTEEN

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a father is vague, a Slytherin gets rather hurt, and extreme details are unveiled.

“Godrick, Nillie, it’s not tha--”

“Sirius, if you tell me it’s not that hard again, so help me, I will show you how not hard it is to break your collarbone.” 

Kenni and Sirius were standing outside the great hall. Kenni had just received the letter back from her dad. Her hands were shaking horribly, making it incredibly difficult to open. 

About four days earlier, they had sent off the letter to Chevalier. It had taken them about two hours to write the letter, to Sirius’s dismay. He knew she needed help, but he didn’t know just how dire her situation truly was. It wasn’t only that she was deathly afraid of what he had to say on the matter, but she also had no idea how to phrase it. 

A big delay in her writing was she didn’t know how to ask gently, and frankly, neither did Sirius. After multiple scrapped parchments and wasted ink, they decided that there was no gentle way to put it and the situation was too dire to wait until Christmas. So, they settled with a rather blunt approach. 

_ Dear Father,  _ it began.

_ Recent situations have brought to light some questions about my lineage. Some things that I’ve overheard some people discussing my ancestry and what that means in terms of this “Dark Lord” they mentioned. Father, I don’t think you can withhold this information from me, given the circumstances, so answer me these things. Who is my mother? How did she die? Is it true that I am a descendant of Merlin? Am I in danger? What does this mean for me?  _

_ I understand that my questions are rather large ones, but I need to know. I’ve been kept in the dark for far too long now. I need to know.  _

_ With love,  _

_ Kenni.  _

After four days, her hands shook as she flipped the letter over, her eyes nervously, yet hungrily eyeing the wax seal that bore the Rowle crest embedded within it. 

Sirius sighed dramatically at her hesitation. “Nillie, it won’t open itself. It’s not a howler, thankfully.” 

Kenni said nothing and just stared at the letter. Her mind was elsewhere--off in Panic World. Her heart rate increased and she felt as though her mind had become scrambled eggs. Nothing made any sense. She could barely focus on what the Gryffindor next to her was saying, she just focused everything in her on the letter in her hands. 

What would he say? What does this mean for her? What will happen now? Will she be forced to join this Dark Lord? Will she have to go into hiding? Will she be hunted down? Will the Pypers be killed? Will--

Her mind abruptly stopped when the letter was taken from her hands. She then realized a hand had been placed on her back. She looked over to Sirius who was looking at her with an expression of concern. She realized her breathing was erratic and that her joints felt tense, as if she had been clenching that letter in tight, tight fists. 

“How about I read it?” Sirius asked, gently. 

Kenni only nodded, unable to formulate words out of fear that her voice would crack or, God forbid, not work at all. 

Sirius removed his hand from her back and broke the seal. His long fingers pulled the parchment from the envelope. He put the now empty envelope behind the parchment he unfolded. He gave Kenni one glance before going to read. 

_ Kenni,  _

_ Don’t ever ask such sensitive information in the form of a letter. It could be intercepted by anyone and you could be put in grave danger. _

_ You’re lucky I had been home by myself when I received it.  _

_ Your questions, I will answer while we’re in the privacy of our own home, if you still wish to. I understand if, given the circumstances, you wish against it.  _

Sirius stopped reading and looked up to Kenni who wore an expression of equal confusion. 

“‘Given the circumstances’? What is that supposed to mean?”

Kenni shook her head a little bit at his question, looking as baffled as he felt. 

“Is that all?” She pressed, gently. 

Sirius looked back to the letter and continued to read. 

_ You will return home for christmas. We have much to discuss, as it seems. I also have further information I wish to share with you in addition to your inquiries.  _

_ Your Father,  _

_ Chevalier _

Sirius folded the letter and handed it to Kenni. She took it, looking confused and still quite anxious. 

“That was no help, whatsoever.” She remarked. 

Sirius observed the girl before him, sympathetically. Her distress was plain. It was quite pitiful. 

He put a hand on her shoulder, “Sit with us today.”

Kenni scrunched up her nose at his proposition, her anxiety momentarily forgotten as she directed her focus to his bizarre request. “I’m pretty sure that’s not allowed?” 

Sirius rolled his eyes before settling on Kenni with a challenging expression. “So? Eliana sits with us all the time and she doesn’t get in trouble.” 

“Eliana is a hufflepuff, Black. I’m sure both your house and my own house would not approve of my sitting with you. Plus, I can’t leave Morgan by herself with Avery and Malfoy. That’d be cruel.” She argued. 

Sirius smirked, “Don’t worry about Greengrass. We asked her to join us this morning, too, and we both know she’s too nice to turn us down. Especially since you have been out here with me rather than sitting with her in there for the past ten minutes.” 

Seeing Kenni’s further hesitation, Sirius sighed. “Remus asked me to have you with us. He said he doesn’t want you sitting with the Slytherins with the present threats looming. If you won’t, Remus will go over there and sit with you at the Slytherin table. And that has the potential to become a whole lot messier than if you sat with us.” 

He was right. Remus was as stubborn as they come. And if Remus decided to sit at the Slytherin table with her, then it’s guaranteed that Mara, James, Peter, Sirius, and Eliana would follow. That would just be pure chaos. 

She huffed, “This isn’t going to be pretty.” 

Sirius grinned and put his arm around her, which she shrugged off as they walked into the Great Hall. She felt different anxieties creeping in as Sirius led her to the Gryffindor table.

Sirius had been right. Morgan was sitting at the Gryffindor table with Eliana, James, Peter, Remus, Mara, Lily, Marlene, and Alice. Kenni took her place between Morgan and Remus. Sirius glanced towards the teacher’s table and while they weren’t looking, he hopped on the seat, stepped on the table, and jumped off onto the other side, with great agility and speed. He plopped himself between James and Peter and across from Kenni. 

“So…?” Lily began, looking from Sirius to Kenni. She had wanted to go with Sirius and Kenni to be moral support, but Sirius argued that he was the one who wrote the letter with her, so he should be the one who reads it with her. 

Lily disliked his logic, but respected that it would probably be less conspicuous if the letter was read with a group of only two people rather than three, so she stayed back. 

Kenni’s other anxieties instantly returned in addition to her present anxieties when Lily brought up the question. She found herself unable to form words. She just sat there, neglecting her empty plate. Sirius noticed and spoke up as he loaded his plate with sausage and black pudding. 

“A load of nothing,” he took a sip of his pumpkin juice. “He said he’d talk to her about it over christmas.” 

Remus, saw Kenni’s anxiety and subtly reached into his bag to pull out some chocolate. He tapped her thigh, causing her to whip her head towards him and handed some to her under the table. She took it with a fraction of a smile and dantilly bit the corner. She instantly felt better and thanked Remus quietly. He smiled and nodded in response, patting her leg in a friendly way before tucking into his food. 

“What a cheery topic of conversation for the holidays!” Mara scoffed. 

“Truly. Like, ‘Hey, dad? Am I going to be hunted because my dad is a really powerful wizard? Just wondering, since you’ve decided to keep this information from me my entire life.’” James contributed with a mouthful of buttered toast. 

Lily sent him a look of disgust, “Don’t talk with your mouth full.”

“Yeah,” Peter agreed with Lily, “I didn’t order see-food” 

Sirius let out a barking laugh, “HAH! ‘See-food’! That’s funny, Pete.” 

Peter looked very proud of himself as he took a gulp from his goblet. 

Kenni sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, leaning forward on the table. The girl looked far more stressed out than any 13 year old should look. 

“Oh, I’m sorry, Ken.” Eliana offered, reaching from where she sat on the other side of Morgan to put her hand on Kenni’s shoulder. 

Kenni looked up to her friend, “I’m so tired of secrets.” 

No one knew quite what to say to that. Although, Remus did shift sort of uncomfortably next to her.

Naturally, a certain slytherin would find a silence such as this to approach. 

“Look, Regina, it’s a group of blood traitors and mudbloods!” 

Everyone immediately tensed and spun to face a smirking Cassandra and Regina approaching. Cassandra held a rolled up newspaper in her hand. 

Sirius growled, “You and I define ‘blood traitor’ very differently, Yaxley.” 

Cassandra just threw back her head and laughed mockingly with an undertone of pure cruelty; it sent a shiver down Kenni’s spine. 

“I’m sure you do,” her lower lip jutted out in a sarcastic pout before she viciously grinned. Her face became suddenly stoic as she directed her attention to Kenni and Morgan with murderous venom. “I always knew you two were pathetic. Always running from what’s right. Same goes for your father, Rowle. Caught fleeing after doing the world a great service.” 

Kenni blanched, “The hell are you talking about, Yaxley?”

“Oh, look, Regina, the poor dear doesn’t know.” 

Regina giggled, “It would be awful of us to keep her in the dark, don’t you think?” 

Cassandra and Regina shared an evil look, “Naturally, my dear ‘Gina, naturally. We simply must tell her.” 

Mara stood sharply, her eyes shooting daggers at the two, malicious Slytherins. “Get the fuck on with it, because I’ll have you know that none of us are above hexing the bloody shit out of you.” 

Cassandra raised an eyebrow at the girl, before looking back to Kenni, “Fine. See for yourself, darling.” 

Cassandra plopped the newspaper in Kenni’s lap. 

“He even made the front page, isn't that great? Your daddy’s famous, Rowle!” 

Kenni felt as though she were unable to breathe. If she was shaking before, it was nothing compared to how badly they were shaking now. The hollow thump of her heart was the only thing she could hear. 

The words stood so plainly on the page. It was as though they were reaching out to her, grabbing and scratching Kenni brutally in a desperate attempt to bring her into the mess. 

_ Death Eaters Nearly Caught Last Night After A Murderous Rampage In London _ .

The title wasn’t the worst part. 

It was accompanied by a picture. A picture of a man just before he apparated. The man’s stature was so plainly her father. She knew it well. It was nearly indisputable. It was like someone had lept from the pages and violently stabbed Kenni’s chest. Her insides felt like they were burning, melting, freezing, and rearranging all at the same time. 

No one blamed Kenni for her next actions. Any sane person would’ve done the same… or at least, a sane person who had finally reached their wits end. 

Kenni wasn’t aware of what was happening until she found herself sitting on top of Cassandra, choking her with one hand and pointing her wand at her with the other. 

Sirius had never, ever seen someone glare with such a passionate, murderous loathing. He had never imagined that Kenni was capable of such a feeling. It caused him to freeze, and sent a fearful shiver down his spine. 

Despite the girl’s size, Kenni easily held the struggling Cassandra down. Cassandra’s eyes were flooded with panic as Kenni spoke, her words not putting Sirius to ease whatsoever. 

“If you ever come within 10 feet of me again, I will personally see to your painful demise,” Kenni snarled. 

“ _ Tempestate! _ ”

A strong bolt of lightning emitted from Regina’s wand and struck Kenni square in the stomach. As quickly as Kenni had violently lashed out, she flew off, hitting her head on the floor, causing blood to start to pool around her skull. She was smoking and the smell of charred flesh secreted from the charred circle that was visible on her stomach. 

“ _ Expelliarmus! _ ” Elaina quickly shouted in retaliation to Regina’s jinx.

Sirius was immediately snapped out of his fearful trance and he ran over to Kenni’s side, following Remus and Morgan. He felt as though he had been hit instead of Kenni. 

Cassandra sat up from the floor, gasping for air. 

“ _ IMPEDIMENTA MAXIMA _ !” 

Everyone found themselves unable to move. 

“THAT IS QUITE ENOUGH!” Roared Dumbledore. 

Sirius had never seen the Headmaster angry. He had always had a twinkle in his eye. But as he approached, he looked worse than dangerous. He looked deadly. 

Everyone in the Great Hall had their eyes on the far left side of the room where chaos coagulated. 

“Poppy, if you would please get Miss Rowle to the hospital wing.”

Madame Pomfrey nodded obediently and sped from the teacher’s table and hustled briskly to where a limp Kenni laid on the floor. The lady quickly pressed two fingers to the girl’s neck and cried out, “Her pulse is fading! She needs to go to St Mungos!”

“Hurry her to my office. You can apparate from here.” Dumbledore shot, running to face the students. “As for Miss Pyper, Miss Yaxley, Miss Avery, Miss Greengrass, Mister Black, and Mister Lupin; if you would please follow me.” Dumbledore’s voice boomed. “As for the rest of you, please resume your meal.” 

He waved his wand in the air and everyone unfroze. 

Sirius felt as though he was rapidly falling hundreds of feet. His stomach dropped and his heart rose to his throat. He barely recalls following the headmaster. He was entirely focused on Kenni. 

They got to his office and he stood while the rest sat. He paid next to no mind to Dumbeldore’s scolding. Remus and Eliana explained the situation while both Cassandra and Regina argued their innocence. Sirius stood silently. He was vaguely aware of the two Slytherin’s receiving a three week suspension from Hogwarts. He hadn’t noticed everyone leaving. 

“Mister Black?” 

Sirius was brought from his thoughts just enough to look up from the spot on the floor he was transfixed, to the headmaster. 

“You’ve been uncharacteristically silent.” Dumbledore pointed out, gently. He gestured to the seat in front of his desk. 

Sirius’s feet moved on their own accord. He hadn’t realized how weak he had become until he collapsed into the chair. 

There was a long silence where Dumbledore observed the Gryffindor boy. When Sirius finally spoke, he sounded weak. 

“I felt it, sir.” 

Dumbledore’s eyebrows rose. “Felt what, Mister Black?” 

Sirius looked up to the bearded man with his brows furrowed. “I felt the shock of… of… her being struck… I felt it.” 

“I’m not surprised,” 

Sirius was quite taken aback. “What?”

Dumbledore’s eyes twinkled, “Mister Black, are you familiar with the muggle concept of a ‘soulmate’?”

Sirius shook his head, hesitantly. 

“Well, the muggles have a theory that there is someone who is made perfectly for you. That there is a person that shares half of your soul, and completes you perfectly.” 

Sirius panicked, afraid of where the Hogwarts headmaster was trying to explain. 

“Are you saying--” 

“Not exactly,” Dumbledore held up a finger. “The possibility of sharing a soul is quite impossible. Rather, there is a very, very rare occurrence in our world. However, every few centuries, there are two people whose magic is somehow connected--linked-- in a mysterious way far beyond our understanding. It’s quite common for those who have this sensation to have twin wand cores. Now, twin cores are common, however, the rarity is two people sharing a twin core while both are still alive.” 

He paused to let that sink in. Sirius’s mind was consumed with thoughts of the girl in question.

“This must be a mistake…” 

“How so, Mister Black?” 

“She can’t… we can’t… you’re wrong. There’s no way. She’s… she’s…” 

“Mister Black--” 

“No, you’re wrong!” 

Sirius shook his head. He couldn’t. He couldn’t take any more. The day had suddenly come to overwhelm him. It wasn’t yet noon and more things have happened on this day than most of his life combined. He spun on his heel and ran out of the library. 

She couldn’t. It was impossible. She was everything he hated. She was everything he stood against. Sure, there was more depth to her. Sure, he felt an uncanny draw towards her. Sure, what he felt when she got attacked was beyond anything he could explain. But there was no way. She was a pureblood. Her father was a Death Eater. She was a Slytherin. She was so uptight and full of fear. She couldn’t be farther than what Sirius wanted.

There was no possible way. He couldn’t. This was wrong. It was so, so wrong. It made no sense. Absolutely no sense. It was bizarre. Maybe the slytherins were right, Dumbledore had lost the plot. He had gone absolutely insane. 

Sirius stopped running when he tripped over a tree root outside and fell. He sat on his knees, catching his breath. 

Sirius looked up towards the placid lake and came to a decision. 

Kennilworthy Rowle was not the one for him, that much was clear. He was going to prove Dumbledore wrong. 

He couldn’t allow himself to be surrounded with her anymore than he had to be. She was dangerous. The image of Kenni’s pure anger flashed in his head. 

She was everything Sirius had vowed to avoid. And so avoid he shall do. 

  
  



	18. FIFTEEN

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which our favorite Slytherin is in the hospital.

Kenni woke up in a white room. Everything was plain, white, beige, or blue. All dull, sad colors. She looked around to see a red line that was floating in the air. It was squiggling. It looked similar to the red, heartbeat lines that she would watch on the television as a kid. 

There was a small window to her left, but she couldn’t see anything but puffy clouds and a blue sky. 

After a few minutes of waiting, the door to her right opened, revealing a kind, yet slightly gruff looking man wearing white robes with the odd St Mungo’s sidgle on the breast pocket. He gave her a gentle smile that looked sort of odd against his slight scruff and square jaw. 

“I’m glad to see you’re awake. I’m Healer Theo. I’m here to help you with anything you need. Your father is outside. He’s out getting some food. He’s been here for days--” 

“ _ Days _ !?” The girl spoke, her eyes wide. 

Healer Theo smiled at her. “You’ve been out for about two days. But don’t worry. You haven’t missed much. I’m afraid you won’t be going back to school until after Christmas break. May I ask you to tell me the last thing you remember?”

Kenni felt at ease with the kind man. He waved his wand and the red line flickered to some sort of blue chart. His eyes read it briefly before looking back to Kenni. 

She thought for a moment before her brow creased and a hand rose to her chest. “I was knocked back by something. It really hurt. I don’t remember past that.” 

The dark man’s smile was gone and replaced with a look of focus as he looked at the blue chart. He nodded, confirming her words. “Indeed. You had been involved in a fight when a student shot you with a tempest jinx. A rather strong one, too. She must’ve been very angry, very powerful, or both. I’m surprised she knew such a thing. I was told all parties involved were in their third year.” 

Kenni nodded. The only people who would’ve shot at her were Regina and Cassandra. Seeing as Cassandra had been incapacitated beneath Kenni herself, the other culprit in her mind was Regina. Kenni, unlike Healer Theo, was not at all surprised that the girl knew of such a jinx. She had seen the books that the Avery girl read at night. They weren’t herbology books, that’s for sure. Jinxes and hexes, and the occasional dark magic. Kenni’s surprised she was even allowed to have those at school. 

The door opened again, revealing Chevalier. He looked disheveled--well… as disheveled as Chevalier Rowle could look. His hair was naturally curly, so it didn’t look too bad. But, rather than its regular shiny appearance, it was slightly frizzy and lost its hold as though he’d run his hand through it many times. His clothes were slightly wrinkled as opposed to pristinely crisp as they usually were. Under his eyes lied large bags. His eyes looked tired. But, despite this, his chin was up, his shoulders were back, and his pride was evident. No matter how stressed or overwhelmed he was, Chevalier Rowle would never lose his pride. 

However, the moment he saw Kenni awake and well, his shoulders slumped slightly and a breath of relief exited him. He hurried his steps and widened his strides a tad to get to his daughter’s side. He grabbed her hand. 

Kenni let him hold it for a moment before gently pulling away. Her father’s look of relief was replaced with a toothless grimace. He flinched, “So you know.” 

“I’m going to give you two some privacy.” Healer Theo whispered. “If you need anything, tap this.” He waved his wand and a small red dot appeared on the side of Kenni’s bed. She smiled gratefully at him. He gave her a little wink before he left, the door latching softly behind him. 

Kenni diverted her attention to Chevalier. The ease she felt with Healer Theo had left and in its place stood, anxiety and stress. 

There was a long, uncomfortable pause that neither Chevalier or Kenni quite knew how to fill. 

“Why?” Kenni asked. That was all. That was the biggest question that stood in her mind. It stood in bright fluorescent lights that flashed with even larger, equally as bright arrows pointing to it, screaming  _ ASK THIS!! _

Chevalier appeared to look at least 10 years older than his 45 years. The man was worn and tired. His eyes were filled with stress and desperation. “You have to understand, Kenni, that I didn’t want to do it.” 

Kenni only stared at him as he sighed and ran a hand through his hair and rubbed his eyes. “When  _ he _ calls, you can’t deny him. If I did he would’ve… well, you would be left vulnerable and I couldn’t do that to you.” 

Kenni didn’t need the name to know  _ he _ was the same person her fellow Slytherins had been gushing over. 

“He told us to ki-- to…  _ take care of _ a muggleborn family. I couldn’t risk denying him that. But when I arrived… the mother looked so much like Laurel….” Chevalier stared at the blanket that covered his daughter without really seeing it. He was so focused on the memory he was seeing. 

The mention of her deceased mother caused Kenni’s attention to increase. He never mentioned her. He was never really able to get much out of him other than that one night all those years ago, when she found out that he, Lucius’s father, and her mother were friends. She had tried to press for more information, but to no avail. He was finally speaking of her which made Kenni thirst for more. More information, more, more, more. 

“I couldn’t do it, Kenni. I didn’t do it. I couldn’t--...Bellatrix stepped forward and…” He shook his head and squeezed his eyes tightly, trying to block out the memories. Kenni couldn’t bring herself to move to comfort him. She just stared at him. She allowed him a moment to compose himself. 

“I ran,” He whispered, finally raising his gaze to look at Kenni. “I couldn’t sit around and watch that…” 

Kenni only looked at him. She didn’t know what more to say. She didn’t have any comforting words or any way to ease the pain her father was feeling. She simply nodded gently. 

She let the information that her father unveiled sit in the air for a moment. The silence was thick as Kenni digested the recent developments. 

She sighed after a few moments and looked to her father. “What about my other questions?” 

Chevalier looked to Kenni for a long moment, seemingly at war with himself at telling her. He eventually gave in and looked behind him to confirm that no one was on the other side of the door as he leaned forward.

“I suppose you should know,” 

“I more than suppose.”

Chevalier couldn’t help the corner of his mouth flick upwards briefly at his daughter’s sass. It fell as quickly as it rose though, and he sighed again. 

He rubbed his face. “To answer your first question, yes. You are a descendant of Merlin.” 

Kenni sat patiently and very alert as her father spoke. 

“As for your mother…” He cringed. “She was killed. She was killed by... a Death Eater. I… I was there.” He said carefully, flinching as he remembered. 

“You were there?” She repeated. “You didn’t do anything?”

His eyes flashed to hers. “I didn’t have a choice, Kenni. It was either have one of us die and the other can still be around to protect you, or have both of us die and have you become a target living with muggles. Your mother and I discussed it thoroughly when you were born. We knew that you were at risk. We couldn’t allow both of us to die, though.” 

Kenni nodded. Everything slowly starting to become more clear. 

“Who was it?” 

“Pardon?” 

“Who killed my mother?” 

Chevalier looked uncomfortable as he responded, “They died that night.” 

Kenni didn’t press for more, since they clearly got the justice they deserved. She let the information settle as another silence made an appearance. 

“There’s one thing I don’t understand, though.” She started, softly. 

“Yes?” 

“Why was mother a target if she was a muggle?”

“Kenni, your mother was not simply a muggle.” Chevalier raised an eyebrow. “You could trace your mother’s lineage back to a certain squib. A squib who was an illegitimate daughter of the most famous wizard of all time.” 

Suddenly everything clicked. “Mother was the descendent of Merlin…” 

Chevalier nodded. 

“Mother was killed because she was a descendent of Merlin…” 

Chevalier nodded again. 

Kenni’s brow creased in question. “But why did the… Dark Lord want Merlin’s line dead?” 

Chevalier shrugged, “I’m afraid I couldn’t tell you.” He hesitated before adding slowly, “But… I do know that he’s caught wind of there being a further descendent of Merlin still living…” 

“And he wants me dead.” Kenni finished simply. 

Chevalier shook his head, “He wants you to join him.” 


	19. SIXTEEN

[ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hu6ZndmXPIc ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hu6ZndmXPIc)

_ A/N: The video link both applies to what happens in the chapter and to me posting this chapter. So hello lmfaooo _

~*~*~

The words her father said haunted her. He refused to tell her any more, stating that he would never let it happen and that she’s far too young to be worried about such things. 

Regardless, the damage had been done. Kenni laid awake at night, thinking of how the most cruel mass murderer of all time wants  _ her _ to join his ranks. Lord Voldemort wants her to kill muggles; to kill her best friend.

That night, she didn’t sleep very well. It was the first night she had a nightmare that would repeat in her dreams for years following. She dreamt she had a dark mark on her right forearm, smiling cruelly while standing over the dead bodies of Elania, Steven, and Camila. Their blood soaked the ends of a dark cloak that sat on her shoulders. Her face was covered in blood. While Elania, Steven, and Camila all looked as dead as a doornail, half way through the dream, they would open their mouths, eyes still lifeless, and let out tortured screams. 

Kenni would wake with a start every time. 

After that first night, she wasn’t sure she  _ wanted _ to know more about the cryptic comment her father made. She forced it out of her mind as best she could. 

Kenni was not held at St Mungo’s for much longer. As soon as she was released, Chevalier and Kenni returned to the Rowle Manor. 

Kenni would be lying if she said that the place didn’t feel like home. The tall ceilings and grand chandeliers had come to provide some sort of comfort for her. Not to mention, she adored Nibley.

“M-mistress Kenni!” The little house elf ran towards her as she entered the house. The sweet dear had a bright smile on his face. “N-Nibley has mis-sed you while y-you were at s-s-school!” 

Kenni couldn’t help but return the smile. “I missed you too, Nibley!” 

Nibley simply shook with joy, his yellow eyes glowing with happiness. He collected their luggage and quickly departed, off to deliver them to their designated rooms. 

As soon as the little elf left, the mood of the room plummeted. Chevalier sighed loudly. Kenni turned her head to her father who was looking at her with a somewhat pained expression. 

“Kenni, I… Tonight is the Black Annual Family Recherche Festivities and--”

“Oh..."

Chevalier looked somewhat pained. He couldn’t see Kenni’s face, since she was looking at the floor and her back was somewhat turned to him. He did see the slight slump in her shoulders, though. He definitely noticed how her hands turned into fists to prevent them from shaking. He hated the words that were about to come out of his mouth. 

“I’m afraid we have to attend.” 

Kenni was silent a minute. Chevalier examined her as best he could. She was tense for a few minutes before her shoulders slumped and she took a deep breath. 

“I assume my dress is on my bed?” 

“I-- what?” Chevalier blinked, taken aback by his daughter’s compliance and change in demeanor.

She turned to him, looking tired, but not defeated. There was a strong glimmer of determination that shone brightly in her eyes. Kenni wore a sense of maturity that was far beyond her years. In that moment, Chevalier saw so much of Laurel. So strong and determined to prove that strength. 

Chevalier smiled at his daughter. He felt proud. Very proud of her. 

That’s not to say the guilt for making her go to such an event as this right after she had been released from the hospital wasn’t there, however he was more afraid of what would happen if they didn’t make an appearance. He knew that the Dark Lord had no mercies for cowardice. Chevalier knew if he played his cards in the right way that he could manage to wiggle his way out of the worst of it. He’d done so before, he could do it again. This time, he had more incentive. He had to protect Kenni. 

Despite the baby fat that was still clung to her figure and the innocent glow that she still radiated, Chevalier could tell that the past years with him have aged her considerably. She was growing up. She was growing up so fast. He found himself wishing for a world where they weren’t wizards. Where the Dark Lord didn’t exist. Where there wasn’t prejudice or injustice or death. Where Chevalier and Laurel could’ve been married without fear, just a man and a woman in love. Where they could’ve raised Kenni themselves, as a happy, simple family. He was wishing fruitlessly for a world where everything was perfect and Kenni didn’t have to grow up so quickly. Where she could have a childhood still. Where she didn’t have to gain such rapid maturity. 

Alas, such things could never come about. Laurel is dead. Kenni is in danger. The Dark Lord is a looming threat. And Chevalier is in deep shit. The only options for the last Rowles are either death, insanity, or rapid maturity. All things considered, they were doing extremely well. 

Chevalier stroked her hair, lovingly, his eyes filled with a pointless yearning. “Yes, your dress is on your bed.”

Kenni held her chin high and nodded, smiling lightly at the sign of affection that he gave her. It rarely happened, which made this one all the more special. She walked up to her room with a strong poise. 

She didn’t hold anything against him. They had to keep up appearances. Kenni understood as much. But going meant facing Cassandra and Regina. She didn’t know if she had the strength to do so. 

_ No. _ She had to. They didn’t deserve the satisfaction of seeing her in shambles. So she would show up to this party. She would waltz in with grace and confidence that would make all the matron heiresses attending look as though they were stumbling over their feet. 

She would show up and do what she knew. She would be a Slytherin. 

~*~*~

As Kenni changed, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Her breath caught in her chest as she saw the mangled scar that sat in the center of her chest, about four inches below her collar bone. Her hand shook as it traced the two inch wide scar. It looked like it had white veins spreading away from the center. 

No one had told her that Regina’s curse left a scar, yet there it was. 

She stared at herself for a few minutes. Her insecurities slowly started to approach her like a looming shadow approaching a small child. It crept slowly and ominously, impossible to ignore. She let it approach for a second. She felt herself rooted on the spot, staring at her chest. She even went as far as to have tears fill her eyes. She couldn’t look away. The scar was there. The scar was permanent. 

That realization caused a switch to flip in her. Within a second, some sort of glowing confidence shot through her entire body, scaring away the shadows of her insecurity. 

The scar was there. The scar was  _ permanent _ . There was no getting rid of it. There was no changing it. So why should she feel insecure over such a thing. After all, hiding her scar and whimpering at every mirror would give Regina the satisfaction of knowing she hurt her. 

Kenni realized she would rather cut off every limb she had than watch Regina feel satisfaction. Kenni turned to her bed and saw a beautiful dark grey dress. It wasn’t as matonly as a black dress, yet it was perfectly haunting. 

Kenni worked her way into it, she turned to the mirror. She thanked Merlin that her dad got one with a neckline that was slightly low. Not enough to be ill fitting for a thirteen year old and immodest, but enough to show her scar as if it were an expensive diamond necklace. 

Kenni made her way to the bathroom. Her hair, that now sat just below her shoulders, would be put up. She wanted the scar to be the most visible thing about her. 

A few hours later, she was ready. She had minimal makeup, being, again, only thirteen. Just enough to cover up a few natural imperfections and blemishes. She had neutral everything else, worn only to enhance and slightly age her features without losing the innocents. 

She looked radiant. 

And walking into Grimmauld Place, she  _ felt _ radiant. Her head was held high, and her confidence oozed out from every cell in her body. Nearly everyone who cared to know who Kennilworthy Rowle was, took notice of her. 

Most of all, Sirius Black. 

He had himself surrounded by a few girls. Distracting himself in the best way he knew how: flirting. The confidence that Kenni carried was so strong that, when he saw it in his peripheral, it caught his entire attention. She was nearly unrecognizable. 

The shy, slightly anxious girl that Sirius had come to know was no more. In her place now stood a young woman, if you could call a thirteen year old that. She was proud. She was strong. She was graceful. She was elegant. 

She was a pureblood. She was the perfect Heiress. 

This night solidified his want to keep away from her.

Sirius would deny the fact that his heart skipped a beat when he saw her. He would absolutely  _ not  _ think about how beautiful she was for many nights that followed. He would  _ never once _ regret not walking up to her and asking if she was okay. He most certainly would  _ not _ admit to feeling violently angry at Regina Avery when he noticed the scar on Kenni’s chest. Of course he  _ didn’t _ feel guilty that his pride stood in the way of him talking to her, even when she approached him. Sirius would tell himself that he did  _ not _ feel absolutely horrid when he saw the look of hurt and confusion that graced her face when he continued to ignore her. 

All of this was simply lies that he told himself over and over again to try and ingrain in his head that he was not compatible with her. But it wasn’t his head he had to convince, however he wouldn’t come to realize this for many years to come. Alas, we’re getting ahead of ourselves. 

Kenni found Morgan quickly that night. They stuck by each other’s sides like glue. When Morgan saw the way Sirius ignored Kenni, she squeezed her best friend’s hand and shot Sirius the most confused glare that caused Sirius to wince a little before turning back to the copious females that flocked around the young man like bees to honey. 

Kenni refused to let Sirius’s sudden odd behavior towards her put a damper on her mood. Of course, she wouldn’t allow herself to  _ forget _ how he reacted. No, she’ll get her revenge, however small it may be. For now, she was getting other, more pressing vengeance. 

After a bit of mingling politely and painful small talk, Kenni found her desired target. Or, well, it found her. 

“Oh, lovely. You made it out alive. We were so worried.” 

Kenni turned to face Cassandra and Regina approaching. Cassandra’s words had absolutely no sincerity in them as she looked at Kenni as though she were something that had fallen out of the backside of a rat. 

The corners of Kenni’s mouth slowly upturned into a cruel smirk. “Well, I couldn’t allow myself to give up just yet. After all, I couldn’t give  _ Avery _ the credit of killing me. We both know she isn’t worth  _ that  _ much.”

“ _ Hah! _ ” Regina crowed, mockingly. “Me? Not worth much? And what are you worth, the daughter of a  _ deserter _ ?” 

Kenni sneered and took a step towards Regina, her chin held high. “At least I know how to properly kill someone,  _ Regina _ .” 

Regina smiled maliciously, “Are you threatening me?” 

Kenni returned the smile for a moment before it fell, giving way to an expression of hate similar to the one she wore just before the accident. A dangerous expression. “If you so much as  _ look _ in the direction of myself or my father, I swear I may be young, but I know curses that would make the Dark Lord look like a saint. Do I make myself clear?” 

Fear shown strongly in Regina’s eyes. “You’re bluffing.” 

Kenni simply chuckled darkly. “If that’s what you think, test me and you’ll see if I am or not. But, not right now. I’m afraid I rather like this dress, and I’d hate to soil it with your blood.” 

“You’re bluffing! How  _ dare _ you threaten me!” Regina shrieked. 

Kenni simply shrugged, the corners of her mouth edging up in violent amusement. “If that’s what you choose to believe. But should you choose to test me, don’t say I didn’t warn you.” 

Kenni stood in silence, relishing in the terror that radiated off of Regina for a moment before she spun on her heel, giving Cassandra a little wave. She grabbed Morgan’s hand and walked off. 

Once they got to the balcony, she exhaled loudly, leaning against the railing. She turned to Morgan with hopeful eyes.

“How’d I do? Do you think she was really afraid?” 

Morgan sighed as well, “Afraid? That was bloody terrifying, Kenni! Forget Regina, I think anyone within a ten-foot radius will have nightmares of that laugh you gave.” 

Kenni smiled. It was a genuine smile this time, one that held absolutely no signs of cruelty of any kind. “Good. Merlin knows she deserves so much more than I gave her.” 

Morgan wrapped an arm around her best friend’s shoulders, “And she’ll get it. I’ll make sure of it.” 

Kenni grinned. 

This was a rare moment. One that didn’t hold any anxiety or worries. All she had was a scar, her best friend, a beautiful dress, and the night air. For a fleeting moment, Sirius entered her mind. The reasoning behind his odd behavior towards her causing her to worry. But she shoved it aside, forcing herself to return to this rare moment. Just allowing herself a small space to breathe. 

They spent the rest of the night out on the balcony. They laughed together and, for a moment, Kenni didn’t have to be the mature girl she always is. In this rare moment, she was thirteen. And that was all that mattered. 


	20. SEVENTEEN

James, Elania, and Morgan would like to preface this chapter, saying that they, in no way, could have predicted the events that took place.

Remus and Lily would like to add that James, Elania, and Morgan are absolutely stupid (along with a few other colorful words that have been tastefully omitted) and could have absolutely avoided the end results of this chapter if only they had listened when told to keep out of other people’s affairs. 

Sirius and Kenni would like to further add that everyone needs to keep their opinions to themselves so the author can continue with the chapter. 

The author thanks Sirius and Kenni. 

Now, without further interruptions… 

  
  
  


When Kenni went back to school, everyone naturally swarmed around her in concern. Well… everyone excluding Sirius Black, to the absolute dismay of James, Remus, and Peter. 

When Sirius walked into the Great Hall with his arm around a different girl every other week. Sirius and Kenni either completely ignored one another or spat vicious insults to each other. Every time James tried to approach Sirius about his strange flip in behavior, he shrugged him off and insisted that nothing was wrong. When Peter questioned him, Sirius did the same thing. Even when Remus attempted to ask about his friend’s odd behavior, Sirius avoided the topic at all costs. 

That was the first large, red flag that James Potter saw. 

When even  _ Remus _ couldn’t get answers from him, that was when James really knew something was wrong. 

The second red flag James took note of was when he approached Elania and Morgan about Kenni’s odd behavior. Apparently both of them had been having equal amounts of trouble with their friend as well. Morgan gave the best tid-bit of information, though. 

During their first of many meetings pertaining to a particular long-haired, Gryffindor boy, and a specific dark, Slytherin girl, Morgan told James and Elania of Sirius’s odd behavior at the B.A.R.F. event.

“That’s odd,” James said, concerned. “They really seemed to be close before.” 

Morgan shrugged, “I don’t know. She seemed to not be at all affected by it.” 

“Now, I know for a fact that that isn’t true. Kenni feels strongly. Nothing ever simply doesn’t affect her. I doubt Sirius suddenly going back to hating her would be an exception. Especially considering they were getting so close!” Elania stated factually. After all, she knew Kenni better than anyone. 

Morgan shook her head, “So, clearly, we’ve come to the conclusion that this is Sirius’s issue.” 

James crinkled his nose in defense of his best friend. “Is it? Or did Kenni do something unknowingly that ticked Sirius off?” 

“What in the fresh hell could she have done? One moment Sirius is in shock because of Kenni’s death, the next he’s ignoring her! What could she have done from the time she was sent to St. Mungo’s to when she appeared at the Christmas party?” Elania retorted, crossing her arms. 

“Er… he could’ve visited her?” James offered, rubbing the back of his neck. 

Elania paused a minute, thinking. “Oh… well… I suppose he could have…” 

And so, ended the first meeting regarding Kenni and Sirius’s friendship. All three members of this secret little group decided that they were going to question their friends about a potential visit. 

When they actually did wind up asking, both Sirius and Kenni seemed absolutely appalled at the mere thought of Sirius visiting Kenni whilst she was in the hospital. 

So several days post their first meeting, they held their second. 

“So, Sirius didn’t visit… which means it’s definitely his fault.” James tapped his chin as though he were cracking a riveting case. 

Morgan rolled her eyes, “Yes, we’ve already concluded that. Well done, Potter. Do try to keep up.” 

James stuck his tongue out at her. “It helps me when I hear things out loud.” 

“Is that why you have to get Lily to say ‘no’ to you so many times?” 

“Oi!” 

“Ladies, ladies, please,” Elania interrupted, slightly amused. “That’s not why we’re here.” 

Morgan ignored James who was grumbling something about “being a man”, and continued. “Right. Kenni and Sirius.” 

There was an awkward pause, where the three of them were at a loss. 

“So…” James began. 

“So, what do we do?” Elania added. 

There was more silence. 

“AHA!” James shouted, suddenly swinging his arm in the air, making Elania jump from fright and quickly attempt to dodge his arm that was on target to hit her square in the face. In the process, the poor girl lost her balance and would’ve fallen over if it weren’t for Morgan’s quick reflexes. 

“Sorry,” James mumbled quickly before carrying on. “I know who we need!” 

“Well, don’t hold back on our account. I’m scared what’s going to happen if you keep being dramatic like this.” Morgan deadpanned, trying to keep Elania upright. 

The third meeting was held the next day. At this meeting, they gained an additional person. 

“So, what do you want me here for?” Remus asked after they explained their cause for the meeting. 

“We want you to help give us ideas as to what we should do,” Morgan carified. 

“...What do you mean, ideas as to what you should do? What makes you think you should do anything?” Remus stated apprehensively. 

“Remmy, they’re our friends!” Elania said, scooting towards him in an attempt at friendly persuasion. “We need to do something! They’re clearly not thinking straight!” 

Remus gave his friends an odd look. “I don’t think it’s our place, really. It’s their friendship, not ours. They should probably be left to figure it out on their own.” 

And with that, he shook his head at his friend’s immaturity and left.

Needless to say, Remus did not attend any more of their secret meetings. So, they turned to the  _ next _ smart person that they knew. 

“Oh, Lilyflowerrrrrrrr!” James sang, coming up behind Lily in the library, joined by Elania and Morgan. 

“Potter, if I were you, I’d take a step backwards before I get hexed.” Lily deadpanned, without skipping a beat. 

James cleared his throat and took a step backwards as Elania and Morgan took the seats on either side of her. 

“Lily, we have a proposition for you,” Morgan began. 

Remus snorted from his spot across from Lily where he was studying peacefully. “Don’t listen. They’re trying to get you to try and help them mediate Sirius and Kenni’s relationship.” Remus stated, not looking up from his book. 

Lily’s head shot up to look at James with conviction. “James Potter, you keep out of their troubles! They’re already at it enough without your thick headedness being involved!” 

Again, needless to say, Lily was no help either. 

Morgan, Elania, and James were at a total loss.

Well, almost. 

James had one trick up his sleeve, however, he was only going to use it as an absolutely LAST resort. 

Which, as it seems, this has come to. 

The absolutely last resort. 

Both Elania and Morgan were very hesitant to agree to his plan. Yet, somehow, James managed to convince them both that it was absolutely necessary. 

And so began the plan to trap Kenni and Sirius in a room together. 

It wasn’t an elaborate plan. James would get Sirius, Elania would get Kenni, and Morgan would make sure the door was locked behind them. It really was childishly simple. Pathetically dimwitted, some may say. James argued that that was what made it so brilliant. 

“Why am I letting you pull me again?” Kenni asked as Elania dragged her from the library to a spare classroom. 

“Because you love me and because I desperately need your help. This transfiguration pro--” Elania began. 

Kenni rolled her eyes, “Yes, yes. I’ve heard. Your project got out of hand. Why do you need  _ me _ for this?” 

Elania kept pulling her friend along, “Because I love you and you love me and you don’t want me to suffer?” 

Kenni considered for a moment, “Fair enough.” 

“Perfect! We’re here!” Elania practically shouted, before opening the door and shoving Kenni into the classroom. Kenni barely was able to blink as she saw James wink at her and leave the classroom. 

“What the--” 

The door slammed and locked behind her. She tried to get it open, but to no avail. 

“The hell are you playing at, Elania?” Kenni yelled, pounding on the door. 

A dark chuckle caused Kenni to stop and turn around. She faced Sirius who had his arms crossed and a bitter smirk on his face. 

“I see what’s going on,” He grumbled. 

Kenni was suddenly filled with rage. She huffed and turned back to the door. She pulled out her wand. 

“I know you did not just trap me in a room with  _ Black _ ,” Kenni spat to the people who were inevitably on the other side. 

“Am I that disgusting, Rowle?” 

“Shut up, Black! I’m trying to remember the incantation to unlock this door!” Kenni growled, trying to rack her brain, but to no avail. Trying to navigate her thoughts felt like walking through solid rock and sludge at the same time. “Merlin, I swear your stupid is contagious! I can’t even be within 10 feet of you!” 

Sirius let out a humourless laugh, “Hah! Really? You’re going to insult my intelligence when you can’t remember an incantation we learned in our first year? You’re really going back to square one, aren’t you, Rowle?” 

“What is your problem?” Kenni spun and fired at him. 

“ _ My _ problem?” Sirius pointed to himself, indignantly. 

“Yes! Your problem! Ever since Regina attacked me, you’ve been acting as though I were something that came out of the rear end of a hippogriff!” 

“You mean you’re not?” 

Kenni screamed in outrage and unsheathed her wand. Sirius did the same. 

“One minute you act like you’re my best friend, and the next you’re looking at me as though I were vermin!” Kenni cried. “Quit being so bi polar! Choose!” 

“I did! I don’t want to be within twenty feet of a Slytherin, pureblood,  _ Death Eater _ like you!” Sirius snarled, jabbing his wand at her. 

“Do you think this is going well?” James asked Morgan and Elania from the other side of the door. 

Morgan and Elania looked at him in shock. 

James held his hands up in surrender, “Just trying to lighten the mood.” 

Morgan scoffed and turned to Elania. “At what point do we open the door and stop them?” 

Elania didn’t have to answer because suddenly there were two loud blasts that echoed from the other side of the door. The three instigators quickly opened the door to find Sirius with a pumpkin head and Kenni half turned into a duck, evidently the cause of a poorly cast  _ Ducklifors _ jinx. 

“For the record,” Morgan sighed, turning to James, “I blame you.” 

James couldn’t turn away from his friends and simply nodded. “That’s smart.” 

“I’ll go get a professor,” Elania shook her head and walked off. 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked it!!!  
> Stay safe and stay healthy!  
> \- Kate


End file.
